Worthy of Blackmail
by Ethia
Summary: One day Sasuke drops a notebook he's had since he was 7. A notebook that contains a secret he's still coming to terms with. When Sakura finds the notebook she finally understands why Sasuke was never interested in her... angered, she results to blackmail. Alternative Universe.
1. Blackmail

**Warnings: I'm setting this to**_**mature**_**just in case but, for now, just a lot of foul language...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: The**_**italics**_**at the start of the story are journal entries, the rest of the**_**italics**_**are characters thoughts. Also, this story is AU**

**AN2: To remove confusion I have listed four main characters when searching for my story. Primarily the main characters are Sasuke and Sakura, but the story can move to the (3rd person) POV of Naruto and Itachi. Also, I apologize to anyone who feels that the characters become too OOC.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 1: Blackmail**

**xxxxx**

Konohagakure no Sato, the most prestigious school in the country…

Within its walls are students of all ages; as it's an elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, and a college all in one. Only the wealthy attend and only the best are taught…

**xxxxx**

_I forgot the date… uhm my name is Sasuke. im 7. and my aniki gave me this journal today. He says caus I was involvd with something bad I should rite it down. uh… a few days ago me and aniki went to a family reunion with papa and mama. I was playin out side and the hous sploded. every ones gone now, cept me and aniki._

...

_forgot the date again. aniki was found guilty of the splosion, hes going to juvenile some thing and im going to grandpas, no one likes grandpa so he wasnt there when they died_

_..._

"Sakura, where did you get this?" Ino whispered intensely as she flipped the pages of the journal, trying to contain herself from exploding on her best friend. She felt guilty for reading that first page, but she couldn't help it, a log of her crushes innermost feelings, desires, and secrets was lying in her hands.

"I found it on the ground. I thought it was just a note book but once I started reading it…" Sakura began explaining.

"This isn't right Sakura, I really like him. I don't want to ruin my chances with him by breaking his trust and reading this. I'm going to give it back to him; don't try to stop me," Ino huffed; she closed the journal, picked up her sky blue backpack, and walked away.

Sakura smirked as she watched Ino go, her plan working so far

**xxxxx**

Sasuke was pacing outside his classroom. All the students had left in a hurry; it was Friday and they didn't want to stay at the school longer than they needed to. _'Damnit, I looked everywhere, where the hell did I leave it!'_Sasuke thought angrily. He didn't write in his journal regularly like he did when he was a kid. Normally, when he needed to vent he'd just use some scratch paper and then would throw the sheet away later. It was only his most personal feelings that he wrote in his journal now, so that he could reflect upon them and remember them later.

He was starting to lose his nerve, nearly hyperventilating; he had written something in there he didn't want anyone to see. That's why he took the journal to school. His brother had found it and, amused that Sasuke had kept it after all these years, decided to take a look at what had been written inside. Luckily, Sasuke found him before he got to the newest page with writing on it. He had snatched the book away and hurriedly stuffed it into his backpack, but apparently it fell out during school. Sighing, he faced the wall, and leaned his forehead onto it, allowing its surface to cool his face and calm him down, barely hearing the approaching footsteps.

"Sasuke, are you doing alright?" Ino said as she approached him. Even though she's known him since they were kids she still couldn't believe how incredibly attractive he had become through the years. He ignored her and continued leaning on the wall so she took in his appearance. His inky black hair, as always, was spiked up in the back but allowed to fall and frame his face in the front. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt that was stylishly ripped, torn and worn out in places, the right sleeve completely wrenched off. Replacing the sleeve was a loose, red and black striped arm warmer that had a few safety pins latched into it. His denim pants were a very dark, nearly grayish-black, blue that were barely held up by his black studded belt.

Knowing that he was going to continue ignoring her, as he does with practically everyone in the school, Ino finally sighed and casually handed him the journal saying, "I think this belongs to you," to get his attention.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open from his meditation. He turned his head in her direction, his eyes notably staring at the notebook then flew up to look at her, _'long blonde hair, purple outfit, c-cup, blue eyes: Ino!'_he thought. He snatched the journal away from her then grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back against the wall. "Did you read what was inside and where did you find it?" He yelled at her.

Taken aback, Ino gaped at him until her senses returned. "I-I read a little of the beginning, but I stopped once I realized what it was… I got it from Sakura," she whispered breathlessly.

His grip on her shoulders lightened a little. Ino wasn't one to lie, so why wouldn't she be telling the truth now? Still, that means at least one other person had read the contents. He gazed down towards his journal again as Ino sneaked out of his grip and sprinted away. Flipping through the pages of his journal out of habit, Sasuke's breath caught as he noticed a page had been torn out; the page that contained his most recent secret.

**xxxxx**

Sakura stood by the main entrance doors of the high school section of the huge school. Bored and tired from waiting so long she casually leaned onto the wall and pulled _Lord of the Flies_ out of her bag, figuring she could at least do some homework while she waited for her plan to unfold. As she read she watched Ino leave the school and walk to her car quickly._'He should be out any minute now,'_she thought. Right on cue, Sasuke banged through the doors and angrily looked around the empty school yard, noticing Sakura behind him reading.

"Give me the page you ripped out of my notebook Sakura," he said, trying to remain calm. She looked at him without expression.

"You know, I always wondered why you couldn't so much as go on at least one date with me when I finally found the courage to tell you I loved you," she said.

"If you love me so much then give it back to me." They stared at each other, calculating the situation.

"I could give this back to you, or I could make you work for it," Sakura started, she could tell by the shocked and irritated expression that quickly formed on Sasuke's face that her plan was going to work.

"What is it you want?" Sasuke asked. He was starting to detest Sakura more than before with each passing second.

"Since I can't have you, I want your brother."

Sasuke's eyes widened. _'Itachi? Why is it always Itachi?'_"What would my brother want with you? You're sixteen, he's twenty-one. You don't stand a chance."

"You might not be attracted to me Sasuke but, believe it or not, I'm very cute. I'm smart, athletic, and I'm popular, and seeing as how it's impossible for me to get with the most popular boy in the high school, I've decided to get with the most popular boy in the whole school," Sakura explained.

'_Most popular in the__whole__school? Of course, even in popularity I'm only second best!'_Sasuke was growing angrier as he was remembered how perfect his brother is at everything. He was constantly trying to outdo Itachi but always came up short. When playing basketball, Sasuke might have landed the most shots of the season, but it was nothing compared to the amount of shots Itachi made when he played. When running for track and field, Sasuke might have won every race he competed in, but he never beat Itachi's past track record.

Sasuke might be the number one student in his grade but his score never matched what Itachi's was, hell, the reason why was standing in front of him, trying to blackmail him. Sakura was incredibly smart in their science and health classes, so even though Sasuke had the best overall grades Sakura was there to pull his scores down, thus the reason he loathed her so much. "And how do you plan on getting Itachi?" Sasuke asked gritting teeth.

"I'll date you in the meantime to bump my popularity up, and then I'll use you as an excuse to get to know him better." Sakura smiled smartly, proud at how well her plan was working so far.

"I thought we already went over the part where you and I won't work out…" Sasuke started to say, wondering if Sakura was stupid after all.

"No duh drama geek," Sakura scowled.

"Where do you get off calling me names? You sure are mean to the people you love," Sasuke said.

"And you're not as smart as I thought you were seeing as how you can't take a hint," Sakura argued.

'_A hint…'_Sasuke understood now that he thought about it. Sakura was referring to the fact that sometimes Sasuke partakes in the school plays; she was getting at the fact he'd be_pretending_ to be her boyfriend.

Noticing Sasuke's expression change, as he realized what she was getting at, Sakura put her book back in her bag, and started to leave. A few steps away she turned around and said over her shoulder, "the girls and I are going to the movies tonight at seven, be there and bring four of your friends." She winked, turned her head forward, and continued to her car.

Sasuke growled, frustrated. He didn't even get the page back. Quietly drowning in his own angst, he started walking to the college part of the school.

**xxxxx**

Itachi was quietly scanning through the books in the library when a shorter man, with long blond hair and light blue eyes outlined in thick, black eyeliner, blocked his path. "Hey, asshole," the man said.

Itachi sighed and moved passed the blonde, "Hello to you too Deidara."

"What you saw back there… It was nothing… I… he…. He was just, examining…." Deidara tried to explain.

"Oh? Was he examining your mouth with his tongue, because his eyes were closed so I doubt he was looking at your face," Itachi smirked. "You don't have to worry Deidara, I won't tell anyone that you were making out with Sasori-sensei, though it's a little weird since you're sixteen years apart," he added the last part teasingly."

"Ugh, so Orochimaru isn't the only pedophile in this place." Itachi and Deidara turned to unexpectedly face Sasuke.

"Hey, I've been legal for two years now, Sasori's not a pedophile!" Deidara argued.

"I know Orochimaru-sensei's a creeper but show some respect, at least while were in school," Itachi lectured.

"Whatever, can I have forty dollars?" Sasuke asked; bullshitting aside.

"Pfft, I don't have any money to lend you," Deidara chuckled.

"I wasn't asking you dipshit," Sasuke scoffed.

"What for otouto?" Itachi questioned.

"Sakura wants me to take her to see a movie tonight," Sasuke answered.

"Ooh! Like a date? How adorable, she's really cute too! You guys do go well together, she matches your complexion!" Deidara cheered.

"My…what?" Sasuke asked, befuddled.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot," Itachi advised. "Let's go. I have my book so we can discuss this in the car." They headed to the librarian to check the book out.

"Fucking Uchiha's," Deidara muttered as he sneaked his way back to the art room to see if Sasori had left yet.

"You know, forty dollars is an awful lot to go see a movie," Itachi said as he and Sasuke got in the car.

"Last time I went to the movies two bottled drinks cost me ten bucks! And if the tickets cost me five fifty each that's already twenty-one dollars, not including popcorn and snacks, and what if she makes me drag he to dinner too?" Sasuke argued.

"Don't get bottled drinks then." Itachi reasoned.

"And drink the watered down crap out of the pop machine, nasty."

"Don't get popcorn or snacks then."

"Just give me the forty dollars Itachi," Sasuke said.

They had pulled up to the skate park, where the boys Sasuke sometimes hung out with liked to chill. "Fine, but only because you're my favorite brother," Itachi mumbled defeated as he dug through his wallet.

"I'm your only brother," Sasuke said rolling his eyes as he took the money. "Thanks, later." He got out of the car, closed the door, and walked to the half pipe.

Chōji was already sitting on the half-pipe's deck, snacking on Funyuns, when Sasuke climbed up there. Kiba was in the pool, trying to teach his big dog, Akamaru, to ride the new board he bought for him. Naruto was performing lip tricks in the half-pipe while dodging Shikamaru, who was napping on the flat, too lazy to move or climb up to the table.

Noticing Sasuke's presence, Naruto raced to his side of the half-pipe. Getting some air and performing a Ho-Ho allowing Sasuke to grab the board and descend down the vert and transition while Naruto landed on the deck. Kiba cheered and then raced out of the pool and over to the gang, Akamaru close behind. Kiba climbed up to Naruto and Chōji, while Akamaru licked Shikamaru awake, and Sasuke returned to the others.

"So Uchiha, what made you decide to grace us with your presence?" Kiba said sarcastically.

"I have a date today and I'm supposed to bring a few others so that it's like a group date thing. I figured you losers would do." Sasuke answered.

"The almighty Uchiha actually going on a date? Who's the lucky girl?" Chōji teased.

"It's Sakura," Sasuke said, avoiding Naruto's gaze.

"Why are you going on a date with Sakura all of a sudden?" Naruto demanded.

"Why do you care?" Sasuke argued.

"It's just random; it feels like you're using her!" Naruto sneered.

'_You're way off.'_"Well not that it's any of your business but I had a change of heart," Sasuke replied.

They glared at each other heatedly. Sasuke and Naruto had been friends for the past four years so Sasuke understood that Naruto felt betrayed. Everyone knew that Naruto had a crush on Sakura, and for Sasuke, of all people, to finally go out with her, after he assured Naruto that he didn't have any interest in her so many times before. It just didn't add up. The rivalry they shared, along with Sakura's blackmailing, kept Sasuke from further explaining the situation, forcing him to watch the bridge of trust they had slowly been building start to crumble a little.

Naruto wasn't completely stupid though. He knew something had to be up. Sasuke didn't use people, so there had to be a decent reason he was doing this. "Fine, I'll go on the group date," he sighed, but continued to glare.

Relieved, Sasuke relaxed a little as Chōji and Kiba nodded in agreement about going on the group outing. If the outing involved Sakura then some of the other popular girls would be there. Shikamaru just yawned and stared at the clouds, "what movie will we be seeing?" he wondered aloud.

**xxxxx**

**AN: First off, all of my skating know-how is wiki related. Secondly, I promise I don't hate Sakura. Thirdly, would is by $40 or ¥4000? Does the Naruto universe even use Japanese currency? I never paid enough attention I guess. Better yet! For humors sake, I should have had Sasuke asking for 3 galleons and 17 sickles. Fourthly, this chapter has now been revised, whether I'll go through it again in the future, I don't know. I'm content with where this chapter is now. Once I put chapter 11 up, I'll probably do my revision for chapter 2. And lastly, Deidara: he is VERY ooc in this chapter, but honestly, I don't care. He's not a main character and writing him this way is quite humorous for me. Poor bastard, always surrounded (more like surrounding himself) by "fucking Uchiha's"**

**If you see any editorial problems while reading this, by all means, let me know.**

**~Hope to see you next time ^_^**


	2. To the Movies

**Warnings: Foul language. Alternative Universe.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 2: To the Movies**

**xxxxx**

Once Sakura made it to her house she pulled out her cell phone and called Ino. As the phone rang, Sakura made her way to the front door and let herself in while Ino picked up. "Hey forehead," Ino answered.

"Hey pig," Sakura replied, "guess who's got a date with Sasuke tonight."

"Don't tell me that's why Karin decided to blow us off tonight!" Ino grunted angrily.

"Karin's not coming?" Sakura was a little shocked but very relieved. If Karin showed up she'd be all over Sasuke, whether he was on a date with Sakura or not.

"Nope, she says she's got the flu," Ino answered. "So who's going on a date with Sasuke?"

Sakura paused, letting Ino's suspense thicken while a smirk spread across her face. "Sasuke is going on a date with me."

This time Ino was the one who paused, hesitating more or less. "You have something on him don't you?"

Sakura scoffed, "What makes you say that?"

"Do you have any idea how furious he was when I gave him his journal? It was terrifying. The last time I saw him like that was four years ago when Itachi started attending the school."

"Whatever, think what you want. I just wanted to let you know that I told him to bring four of his friends so we could all go to the movies together. I guess he can only bring three though, since Karin's not coming," Sakura said.

"That's okay, I can ask Temari to come instead," Ino reasoned.

"Great see you there," Sakura smiled.

"Yeah…" Ino sighed as she hung up, _'don't hurt him, Sakura…'_

Sakura, Temari, Hinata, and Tenten met at Ino's house so they could ride to the theater together in her cobalt blue corvette, arriving sooner than the boys. Knowing they were going to be out on dates, the girls dressed to impress.

Ino wore a blue dress with a dark blue belt and matching dark blue gloves and ankle-boots. Her long hair was pulled into a braid that slung over her shoulder.

Sakura aimed for cute but casual. She wore a form fitting white t-shirt over a short teal skirt. Her bangs lightly pulled back by teal barrettes.

Hinata had on a lavender blouse which covered part of her cream colored dress. She also had a lavender beret on.

Tenten, always being an outdoors type, had a pair of dark capris on. She wore a white shirt with light purple stripes and a dark purple vest jacket.

Lastly, Temari, who was there more for the movie than the date, wore a plain purple tube top with white arm warmers and tight light blue jeans.

"I wonder who Sasuke will bring with him," Tenten pondered eagerly, a list of the popular high school boys running through her head, "Maybe Neji!"

"Maybe he'll bring Sai," Ino thought hopefully.

"M-maybe he'll bring Naruto…" Hinata hoped, blushing once she realized she had said that aloud.

"I can't believe you like him Hinata, come on, you have better taste then that," Temari scolded.

"Speaking of Naruto," Ino raised a finger and pointed to a rundown black pickup splattered with orange paint that had pulled into the theater's parking lot. The girls watched as Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chōji climbed out of the truck bed; Naruto and Sasuke getting out from inside.

"So much for Neji," Tenten muttered.

"Or Sai," Ino agreed. While the girls had gone out of their way to look pretty, the guys hadn't changed at all. All they had managed to do was steal some of Kiba's body spray when they went to his house to drop off Akamaru.

"I feel kinda bad for not dressing up," Chōji whispered to the guys as they walked through the parking lot, noticing what the girls were wearing.

"Ah who cares, we're men, we don't have to look pretty," Kiba said, shrugging Chōji's statement off. "I just want to know why the shrew's here, I was expecting Karin."

"Dude, what's your beef with her anyway?" Naruto asked, laughing a little at Kiba's comment. Unfortunately Kiba couldn't answer because they had reached the girls.

"I have a fun game I think you dateless eight should play!" Sakura announced once the groups were together. "Instead of you guys taking forever to try and pair up, why don't you draw straws to see who gets who?" She smiled, pulling eight straws out of her white kitty-head purse.

"You had this planned out from the beginning, didn't you forehead?" Ino grunted. Sakura just smirked and held the straws up, four in each hand.

"Your way takes less effort, I'm in," Shikamaru decided, convincing the other guys who really didn't care either way. The four boys each took a straw from her left hand while the girls took from her right, Sasuke standing off to the side, hiding his interest from who would get partnered with who.

"I got a yellow tip," Ino said, looking from the girls to the guys.

"Me too," Naruto replied, flicking the straw in his fingers while he held it up to show her.

Temari chuckled under her breath while Hinata looked away from the group with a small frown, lightly saying, "Mine has a blue tip."

"So does mine," Chōji smiled warmly, walking up to her. He wanted to be partnered up with Ino, but Hinata was a sweet and pretty girl so he didn't complain.

"I've got red!" Kiba smirked.

"Great, I get the guy who smells like wet dog," Temari muttered.

"Ugh, and I get the old hag," Kiba growled.

"What was that punk?" Temari sneered.

The two started bickering while Shikamaru sighed, "So what're we gonna watch?"

"I wanna see Kick Ass!" Naruto answered.

"That movie looked awesome!" Tenten agreed.

"I second that!" Kiba chimed in, forgetting his verbal fight with Temari.

"If Naruto thinks it'll be good I'm sure it will be," Hinata replied shyly. With that decided the group headed inside to buy their tickets, or in their case, pool their money and have Temari, the legal adult, buy their tickets.

As the boys started going through their wallets Naruto whispered to Ino, "hey um, since this is a date, do you think you could buy my way in? I don't have any money."

Ino glared at Naruto and took her wallet out of her purse, sighing as she looked inside, "I don't have that kind of money on me Naruto, I can get myself in, but not you too if I plan on buying something to eat."

Catching the conversation, Sasuke leaned over to them, "If I buy Naruto's way in will you split whatever you're getting with him?"

"S-sure Sasuke," Ino stuttered nervously, still a little on edge from earlier.

"If you're going to buy my ticket, then don't worry about giving me gas money," Naruto told Sasuke. He hated owing people things. Sasuke just nodded and handed Temari a twenty.

Once everyone had their tickets, they made their way to the concession stand. Sasuke ended up buying a liter of Pepsi, a large bag of popcorn, and some Gummy Worms to split with Sakura. So far the date had cost him thirty dollars and fifty cents, and Itachi said forty dollars was a bit much… _'Ha!' _Sasuke thought bitterly.

They sat in two rows, towards the back, and in the middle. Down the line in the first row were Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, Ino, Chōji, and then Hinata. The row behind them went Kiba, Temari, Shikamaru, and then Tenten. As the movie started, their group quieted in eager anticipation. Forty-some minutes into the movie, Sakura noticed Sasuke's body movement change. She recognized, from his changed position, that even though he wasn't letting it on, he was really enjoying the movie.

Figuring now was as good a time as ever to show him she meant business; Sakura leaned over to him and lightly nibbled the tip of his ear, not going unnoticed by Naruto or Ino. "What are you doing?" Sasuke whispered, frustrated but turning to face her no less.

"Couples generally make-out during movies," Sakura whispered back smugly, pecking his lips lightly.

Sasuke glared, saying under his breath, "And what makes you think I'd be interested in making-out with you?"

"Just a little piece of notebook paper I ripped out of someone's diary," she smirked, running her hand through his gelled hair and pulling him closer. To further show her dominance she refused to shift her body and continued sitting forward, forcing him to move over and shift his position for her.

Not one to take being pushed around lightly, Sasuke decided to take control of the situation. While they kissed he leaned forward more, resting his hand on the small of Sakura's back. Then, he casually put his hand on the leg closest to his hand. Slowly he moved his hand further up until he reached the thigh then he squeezed lightly, starting to head for the crotch when…

"Stop feeling my leg up, teme!" Naruto shouted, shoving Sasuke's hand away.

"Oops, you're so small and girly I guess I thought you were Sakura," Sasuke replied offhandedly, smirking in the dark room.

"I'm not short and I'm wearing pants, she's wearing a skirt, big difference!" Naruto continued shouting.

"Oh, then I guessed you'd just wanted some of the action," Sasuke said, growing annoyed by how loud Naruto was.

"Are you implying something teme?" Naruto growled while standing up and grabbing the front of Sasuke's shirt.

"Sasuke, Naruto, you're disrupting the peace, get out of the theater!" The boys looked towards the front of the theater and saw Haku standing at the foot of the stairs.

Sighing, Naruto let go of Sasuke and the two headed towards Haku. "I didn't know you worked here," Naruto said to Haku as they walked up to him.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I have a lot of various jobs since Zabuza won't pay for my schooling. Thanks for getting into that fight by the way, very entertaining; gave me something to do," Haku said, smiling up to the boys. He might have been eighteen, but he was short for his age. He gave them a casual wave as they left the building.

"Good going chicken ass," Naruto mumbled as they sat against the theater's wall outside, his anger returning

"Now you're making fun of my hair, porcupine?" Sasuke mocked.

"You know how much I like her, why would you start making out with her right there?" Naruto asked angrily.

Sasuke sat silently, choosing not to answer; he wasn't ready for Naruto to know his secret yet.

"Fine, ignore me asshole, why don't you get your brother to come get you or something, I don't wanna look at you anymore," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke sat next to Naruto a little while longer, until, sighing, he finally stood up and walked towards the street, heading to his house. A block away he pulled out his cell phone and called Itachi. "Well, that was a short movie," Itachi answered.

"Shut up and come get me," Sasuke mumbled, telling him where he was before hanging up. He knew he was being rude but that was just how he and Itachi were. Itachi understood that something had pissed Sasuke off without him saying anything. He knew anger was fueling Sasuke's words, so why waste his breath arguing with him when he could just let it slide? As soon as Sasuke calmed down he would talk about it with Itachi and then apologize for being rude anyway; that's how it worked.

Sasuke sat on a nearby park bench, stretching his arms across the back of the bench, and leaning his head back to look at the cloudless night sky. He hated that Naruto was upset because of him, he hated that Naruto was upset in general, what was he supposed to say to him to make him feel better? _'Sorry for kissing the girl you like, she's blackmailing me so I have to… Yeah right,' _Sasuke thought; thinking of different apologies.

And Sakura, how was he supposed to deal with her? He leaned forward, remembering that night three years ago. Sakura's crush on Sasuke was as obvious as Naruto's crush on Sakura and Hinata's crush on Naruto. Naruto and his friends had succeeded in dragging Sasuke to a school dance, where Sasuke spent the majority of the dance hiding from all the girls in the boys' bathroom. Eventually Naruto and Kiba found out and dragged him back to the gymnasium where the dance was held.

Luckily, a song was playing, so most of the girls were already dancing. Sakura however, wasn't dancing. As the song playing started to end, she causally walked over to where Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba stood. "S-Sasuke…" she began to ask nervously. Sasuke tried to ignore her like he ignores everyone but she continued, "…would you dance with me?"

Just as he was about to say 'no' Kiba shoved him into her, loudly saying, "Sure he will! He hasn't danced with anyone yet!"

"Great," Sakura smiled and cupped her hand in Sasuke's while Sasuke glared at Kiba but walked onto the dance floor no less. He didn't know what was pissing him off more, Kiba, or the fact that the song that was starting was a slow love song. As they swayed gently with the music Sakura built up the courage to lightly lay her head of Sasuke's chest. "Sasuke?" she began.

"Yes?" Sasuke answered flatly.

"There… There's something I've been meaning to tell you," Sakura continued, lifting her head up and staring into Sasuke's eyes. They had stopped dancing at this point, just standing on the dance floor with Sasuke's hands on Sakura's waist and Sakura's arms draped around Sasuke's neck.

"And what might that be?" Sasuke asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Sakura leaned closer to him, whispering, "I… love you…"

All Sasuke could do was stare at her. "Thank…you?" He offered, not sure what to say.

"Please don't leave it like that, If you could just give me a chance to explain..." Sakura began but Sasuke cut her off.

"Why don't we go sit down?" They headed towards the metal folding chairs. As Sakura sat down Sasuke lost his nerve, "I'm going to go outside quick to get some fresh air; I'll be right back, okay?" Sakura nodded, figuring he was just nervous.

As soon as Sasuke was outside he ran. The only place he could think of going was a park a couple blocks away. Once he had reached the skate park where Naruto and his friends had started to hang out, Sasuke pulled out his cell phone and called the last person he thought he'd ever ask for help at the time.

"Nii-san, come get me," Sasuke breathed into the phone.

**xxxxx**

His brother's car pulling up to the side walk brought Sasuke back to the present. He stood up and stretched before climbing into Itachi's car. "So what happened?" Itachi asked as he started driving again.

"Naruto and I got into a fight, they kicked us out of the theater, and Naruto said he wouldn't give me a ride," Sasuke explained.

"You and Naruto were fighting? That's odd, I thought you two were finally passed that stage," Itachi smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"I guess not," Sasuke said, resting the side of his head on the passenger door's window. Itachi glanced over to him, normally Sasuke went into more detail. What had happened that made him not want to talk?

"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked looking at Itachi when he drove passed their turn a few minutes later.

"I don't want to go home yet, Madara's in one of his moods," Itachi explained. Their grandfather was a very eccentric and angry, bitter old man with a split personality disorder, but Itachi was only twelve when the Uchiha family died so all of their family's money went straight to Madara. Despite how angry Madara was all the time, he was also very lonely from being shunned from his family for so long, so he told Sasuke and Itachi that they had to live with him until he died if they wanted to see any of their family's fortune.

"Oh, so he's Madara now? I like him better when he's Tobi," Sasuke sighed.

"Yeah well I'll like him better when he's dead," Itachi mumbled.

"You could blow up the house like you did last time," Sasuke offered, receiving a smack on the back of the head as a reply. Sasuske burst out laughing and Itachi smiled, happy that Sasuke wasn't upset about the evening anymore.

They pulled up to a small shop about ten minutes later. "Where are we?" Sasuke asked as he got out of the car and looked into the shops windows. The inside of the store was filled with mannequins and puppets along with some other things.

"This way Sasuke," Itachi said, walking to the side of the store. On the stores side was a small door. Itachi tapped the back of his hand on it lightly.

"Why hello Itachi, it's good to see you again," an old woman said as she answered the door.

"It's nice to see you too Chiyo-san, this is my younger brother Sasuke," Itachi said, indicating Sasuke to the side of him. "Is Sasori-san home?" The woman nodded and welcomed them in. After taking their shoes off, the two walked up a small flight of stairs.

"You're so weird Itachi. You're the only person I know who hangs out with teachers," Sasuke said.

"That's not true, Naruto hangs out with Iruka all the time," Itachi argued.

"That doesn't count, Iruka's his adoptive father for crying out loud," Sasuke said. Itachi stopped and knocked on the door in front of him.

"Not now grandma, we're busy," Sasori called from inside.

"Get off of each other and let us in," Itachi answered back.

'_What the hell are they doing in there?' _Sasuke wondered even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

Movement could be heard from inside and then the doors lock _clinked _and the door opened. Sasori's stood in the doorway, his shirt was un-tucked slightly and some of the buttons at the top and bottom of it had been undone. Sasuke looked further into the room and saw Deidara, his hair no longer in a ponytail and his face was beet red, he stood next to Sasori's bed awkwardly staring at the other boy in the room. It was a junior from Sasuke's section of the school named Sai.

Sai didn't have a shirt on and he hadn't bothered to re-button his pants. Once he caught sight of Sasuke he smirked and ran his hand over his chest asking, "Want to join us?"Sasuke flushed and turned his face from the room.

"Itachi, now really isn't a good time," Sasori said calmly.

"I can see that," Itachi said. "I guess we're going to go home after all," he told Sasuke. "Sorry for interrupting," he added, nodding to Sasori and then Deidara before giving Sai a puzzled look. Sasuke and Itachi headed back downstairs as they heard Sasori's door close and then lock.

After driving in silence for a while Itachi finally asked, "Isn't that pasty kid still in high school?"

"Yes, he's a junior, his name's Sai," Sasuke answered. "I guess that does make Sasori a pedophile," he added jokingly.

Itachi smirked and said, "Well that Sai kid totally wanted your ass," earning _him_ a smack across the back of his head this time. "Ack! No hitting the driver."

The rest of the drive was uneventful. When they arrived at Madara's mansion they said goodnight and headed for their own bedrooms to do schoolwork and relax. Around ten, when Sasuke was deciding to go to sleep from being bored of doing nothing, his phone started to ring.

The caller ID reading: Sakura

**xxxxx**

**AN: Alright, I've now re-edited this chapter. If you see anything wrong with it plz let me know. Thankx in advance. FYI: the outfits that Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten are wearing to the movies are based off of an adorable picture drawn by gabzillaz on deviantart. I've linked the page on my profile. I'll edit chapter 3 when I put up chapter 12.**


	3. Mixed Intentions?

**Warnings: Foul language. Alternative Universe.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 3: Mixed Intentions?**

**xxxxx**

"Hello Sakura," Sasuke answered his cell phone dully.

"What's up with ditching during the movie? When we got out only Naruto was there" Sakura yelled into the phone, making Sasuke move it away from his ear a little.

"I wasn't ditching really. Naruto said he wouldn't give me a ride and to call my brother to pick me up; so I did," Sasuke explained. "I'm actually surprised he waited that long for you guys."

"Why's that? He spent the whole time in the arcade playing video games," Sakura said.

"With what money?" he asked perplexed.

"He borrowed some from Haku-sempai," she answered. Sasuke stared at the wall, Naruto hated borrowing money; he must have been really pissed off if he went that far to distract himself. "…pick me up tomorrow at eleven-thirty."

"Sorry, what?" Sasuke asked, nearly missing everything she had said.

"What's got you so distracted? I said 'to make up for tonight, pick me up tomorrow at eleven-thirty.' We're going to hang out at your house tomorrow, got that?" Sakura huffed annoyed, Sasuke imagined her with her free hand resting on her hip, tapping her foot angrily, a scowl on her face.

"Yeah, okay," Sasuke answered with a light sigh, it's not like he could tell her 'no'. They said goodnight and hung up. Before lying down to sleep, Sasuke set his alarm clock. The last thing he needed was for Sakura to tell everyone his secret just because he didn't wake up in time to pick her up.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke's alarm sounded at nine the next morning. Groggily, he stretched and yawned, then walked over to his dresser to grab some clothes; black pants, his usual studded belt, and his red "REAL BLOOD IS FOR SUCKERS" True Blood t-shirt. Afterwards, he walked to the bathroom and took a shower; most of which he spent with his eyes closed, wondering what he'd do about Naruto. Once he was done he changed and walked downstairs to the kitchen. He heard fumbling around from within the kitchen and braced himself. "Good morning grandfather," he said respectfully before being slammed into the wall near the door, a knife to his throat.

Madara held the butcher knife close enough to Sasuke's skin to cut it. "I thought I told you to call me 'sir'?" He hissed; his face inches away from Sasuke's.

"My apologies," Sasuke gasped, caught off guard. It had been a while since Madara had him in this kind of situation.

"Have they turned red yet?" Madara asked, staring into Sasuke's shadowy black eyes.

"N-no sir," Sasuke said as calmly as he could, the knife pressing harder into his skin but not yet drawing blood. "Why don't you ask Itachi if his have," he offered. He didn't mean to sell out his brother but Itachi was stronger than he was, he'd be able to defend himself at least.

"You're lying! Your eyes have been turning red haven't they?" Madara demanded, using his free hand to stretch back the lids on one of Sasuke's eyes, tears quickly falling from the sudden exposure to the outside. Sasuke stood there, nearly trembling, a knife to his throat, and the fear that his deranged grandpa might suddenly pull his eye out almost getting to him. It would have too, if he hadn't caught a glimpse of Itachi out of the corner of his eye. "And besides, Itachi has poor vision, he needs contacts. You're vision though, is perfect!" Madara exclaimed.

As Madara leaned even closer, if that was possible, to stare deeper into the unprotected eye, Itachi calmly walked closer to him from behind with a syringe in his hand. Ever so swiftly, Itachi wrapped his arms around Madara's chest and yanked him back, pulling him from Sasuke. Then he gently, but quickly, flung the man to the ground, facing up. He straddled him, using a knee to hold down the arm that held the knife. After pinning Madara's other hand above his head with his free hand, Itachi injected the syringe's contents into Madara's arm.

Sasuke all but slumped onto the ground as Itachi continued sitting on Madara, as he struggled until the drug finally kicked in. Once Madara had calmed down Itachi got off of him, grabbed him under his arms, and dragged him out of the kitchen. "Put that knife away," he told Sasuke from down the hall.

Sasuke slowly exhaled, collecting himself, before grabbing the knife and standing up. After putting the knife in the sink he headed to the fridge to grab some eggs and bacon, deciding that Itachi's performance just now deserved a good meal.

He jumped a little as Itachi walked in a few minutes later. "Apparently dear grampsy decided not to take his morning medicine," he said bitterly, "so what's for breakfast?"

"Eggs and bacon, with some fruit, and muffins on the side. If you start making it now we can have toast too," Sasuke answered. "Thanks by the way."

"No problem, I love throwing him around," Itachi chuckled as he grabbed the bread and put some slices into the toaster, "why don't you ever defend yourself?"

Sasuke chose to ignore him and continued making breakfast in silence. Itachi walked out of the room to grab the newspaper from outside while the toast heated up. Once the meal was ready, and Itachi had buttered the toast, the two of them ate, Sasuke collected in his thoughts while Itachi read the paper.

"Okay here's what's up," Sasuke started, after much deliberating, once he had finished eating.

"Hit me," Itachi prompted, folding the newspaper up, he had been waiting for Sasuke to tell him what was wrong.

"Sakura has something on me," Sasuke continued.

"What, is she blackmailing you or something?" Itachi asked.

"That's exactly what she's doing," Sasuke answered.

"Well, what does she have on you? Maybe I can help," Itachi offered.

"Regardless, she knows I don't want to go out with her but she's making me date her anyway," Sasuke said disregarding the question.

"Why's she doing that? What'll it accomplish?" Itachi asked, noting that Sasuke had avoided answering his question.

"She's using me to get closer to her new goal… you," Sasuke said, pointing at Itachi as he said the last word.

"She wants to date me?" Itachi asked a little befuddled. Sasuke just nodded his head and Itachi burst out laughing. _'T__eenagers and their fucking drama!' _he thought. "Why the hell does she want to do that?"

"I dunno, popularity?" Sasuke guessed; he knew that's what Sakura said her reasons were but that could easily be a lie. "Either way, I have to go pick her up in like forty minutes. She wants me to hang out with her here to make up for leaving during the movie last night."

"You sure do like to ditch her huh?" Itachi teased lightly.

"Don't remind me, but come on, she made me make out with her during the movie!" Sasuke whined.

"And that's a bad thing?" Itachi asked.

"Hello; Naruto was sitting right next to her! Sorry that I feel guilty about kissing the girl my best friend has a crush on!" Sasuke said.

"So that's why you two started fighting," Itachi realized.

"Yeah… Anyway, I just wanted to warn you that she'll probably be all over you or something," Sasuke said standing up.

"Pfft, like I'm not used to that," Itachi smiled, "I'm gonna go check on Madara quick, see if he's hungry or something." He handed Sasuke his plate and left the room. Sasuke washed and put the dishes away and then headed for the door that led to the garage.

"Leaving so soon Sasuke? I thought you didn't have to pick her up for like half an hour?" Itachi asked as he peered into the garage after hearing Sasuke start up his motorcycle.

"I thought I'd go to the skate park quick and see if Naruto was there."

"Good idea, take my car though," Itachi said tossing Sasuke the keys to his car.

"Why?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You seem shaky from Madara's little attack this morning, I don't want you riding your bike in that state," Itachi said.

Rolling his eyes Sasuke turned his bike off and walked over to Itachi's car, opened the door and got inside. After turning the car on, he instantly changed the classical station Itachi had the radio set on, putting in his emergency Your Favorite Enemies CD that he kept under the front seat. Giving a small wave to Itachi he pulled out of the Garage and headed to town, a mere five minutes away.

He didn't see Naruto's truck as he pulled up to the parking lot near the skate park, but Naruto was known to skate to the park instead of drive. And sure enough, as Sasuke walked up to the park he saw Naruto crooked grinding a bench. Once Naruto saw him he stopped, "what do you want?"

What was he supposed to say; would Naruto believe him if he told him what he told Itachi? "Just wondering if you have that five-fifty you owe me from the movie last night," he said casually, maybe if he pushed Naruto's buttons enough the two of them could fight their problem away like they used to.

Naruto scoffed, "well then what about the gas money you owe me?"

"What gas money? Last I checked I didn't get that ride home from you last night," Sasuke argued.

Naruto was getting pissed. Why did Sasuke have to be such a backstabbing smart ass? "I really like this board, but if you don't leave right now. I _will _break it across your head!" He threatened.

"I'd like to see you try dobe," Sasuke said, smirking and raising his head a little in a taunting manner. Naruto glared, he grabbed his bored, but paused, as if exhausted. Sighing he walked towards Sasuke, shoving his shoulder with his own as he passed. "All talk today huh?" Sasuke asked, shocked that Naruto wasn't carrying out his threat.

"Just shut up and drive me home," Naruto mumbled as he got into the back of Itachi's car and laid on the seats. Sasuke frowned; as Naruto had passed, Sasuke had seen bags under his eyes.

"Didn't get much sleep last night?" He asked.

"I didn't sleep. I dropped the guys off and came here. Around one a cop drove by, and while I was hiding for being passed curfew, he called a tow truck to drag it away," Naruto explained.

"You're weekend fucking sucks," Sasuke joked trying to lighten the mood. "I do have some bad news though…"

"Great…"

"I have to pick Sakura up before I drop you off."

"Whatever; just kiss her outside or something where I don't have to hear it or see it."

Sasuke didn't answer and they headed to Sakura's in silence. Once they reached her house, Sasuke got out of the car and walked to her front door. He was originally going to text her or honk the horn to get her outside, but he didn't want Naruto to have to see them kissing again. He tapped his knuckles on the door lightly, maybe she wouldn't hear him and he could go home saying he tried, Naruto would be the witness.

"You're five minutes early," Sakura said sweetly, with a smile on her face, as she answered the door.

"I could come back," he offered.

She pouted, "I was just surprised is all; I was expecting you to be late."

"Can we just leave?" Sasuke didn't like standing in front of her house. He feared that at any second her parents would see him and drag him in to meet them and give him a lengthy lecture about treating their daughter right or else his head would meet their selective fire, gas operated 7.62mm assault rifle. Did they even own a gun, much less an AK-47?

"Anyone home?" Sakura asked Sasuke as she tapped him on the head. "You've been staring into space, when do I get my good morning kiss?"

'_I've been spacing off a lot lately,' _Sasuke realized. He took a deep breath then slowly exhaled. Just before Sakura could start bickering about him ignoring her he grabbed her hand and gently pulled her closer. He rested his other hand on her hip as he leaned forward and placed his lips on hers. She leaned into him and deepened the kiss, a few seconds later they separated and walked to the car, Sakura blushing and Sasuke staring to the side.

Once they had sat in the car Sakura leaned over to him and kissed his cheek, clearly wanting more. "Can we hold off until we get to my house? I'm not fond of all these public displays of affection," Sasuke asked, pushing Sakura back a little.

"What're you talking about," Sakura wondered. Sasuke nodded his head towards Naruto who was still laying on the seats, his back facing Sasuke and Sakura. "Oh… alright," Sakura said, buckling up.

They started driving to Iruka's house, arriving ten minutes later. "Alright Naruto we're here," Sasuke said. When he didn't hear Naruto leaving he turned his head and saw that Naruto had fallen asleep. "Wanna shake him Sakura?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged and turned so she could place her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto wake up," she said as she lightly shook him. Naruto yawned and sat up, blushing a little when he noticed Sakura staring at him.

"My bad," he grinned, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. Then he got out of the car saying, "see ya on Monday."

"So why was he in the car?" Sakura asked as they drove away from his house.

"I went to the skate park to apologize about yesterday," Sasuke answered.

"Did it work?"

"I dunno, I think we're on 'being in each other's presence' terms though."

"Well that's good. Changing subjects, what would be a good way to flirt with your brother today?"

Sasuke smiled at how blunt Sakura was being. "So I'm supposed to help you too? I thought I was just the pawn, not the brains."

"Well you're his brother, you know him better than I do," Sakura retorted.

"Alright, how about the three of us watch a movie? You can be in the middle," Sasuke offered.

"Sounds good but will he go for that?"

"He better," Sasuke muttered.

Once they got home, Sasuke put his CD away, and they went inside. "Nii-san!" Sasuke called up a flight of stairs.

A minute later Itachi stood at the top of the stairs frowning, "I could have sworn you were raised with better manners otouto."

"Sakura made me rent some movie called Penelope, it's about a pig-girl, wanna watch?" Sasuke asked, completely ignoring Itachi's comment. He knew Itachi liked things having to do with people who had animal-like qualities, his friendship with one of the biology teachers, Kisame, being a prime example for his strange shark-like facial features.

'_Damnit,' _Itachi thought, _'when did he learn my weaknesses?'_ He tried to find a good reason to watch the movie some other time but he really didn't have anything planned for the day, save maybe some homework later. "Okay, I'll watch it with you," he sighed defeated.

Sasuke smirked and walked to the living room where Sakura waited. She looked over at him and he gave her a thumb up, letting her know the plan was working, before popping the DVD in. "So Itachi, this is my girlfriend Sakura, Sakura this is Itachi," he said introducing the two to each other. They'd met each other before but never really talked.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Itachi said smiling and taking Sakura's hand to shake it, always the gentleman.

"It's very nice to meet you too," Sakura said coyly, shaking Itachi's hand and batting her eyelashes suggestively. Itachi and Sasuke laughed on the inside; today would definitely be interesting.

The three of them sat down a bit awkwardly and started the movie, and, as Sasuke said, Sakura sat in the middle. About fifteen minutes into the movie Sakura leaned over to Sasuke, "you know what would be great?" she asked.

"Popcorn?" Sasuke guessed. She smiled and Sasuke stood to head for the kitchen. "Want anything to drink?" He asked before he left the room.

"Coke please," Sakura said as she stared at Itachi, eyeing him.

Itachi noticed the quite deliberate staring and inwardly sighed, "I'll take one of my beers if you don't mind?" he asked.

"Drinking at this hour? I think you have a problem," Sasuke joked as he went into the kitchen.

Sakura knew she was being a little too obvious about being here for Itachi and not Sasuke, but she hardly saw the older brother so she wanted to test his boundaries and see what he showed interest in. "So what do you think of the movie so far?" She asked.

"I dunno, it's barely started," Itachi answered.

_'Well that didn't work,' _Sakura silently huffed, and then casually, she leaned forward and gently ran her fingers through Itachi's hair, loosening the long strands from the hair tie they were neatly kept in. "I really like how long your hair is, I wish Sasuke would grow his out. And it's so soft compared to his, which is normally hard and gelled, sometimes the gel even makes it feel a little sticky" she breathed into his ear softly.

Itachi took a deep breath and leaned away from her slightly, "he does that to show his individuality," he answered. "Kind of like how you dye your hair pink."

"Actually… My hair is naturally this color," Sakura said a little embarrassed.

"Really, how is that possible?" Itachi asked growing interested.

"I'm not entirely sure about that, I think the doctor said I had an abnormal amount of Pheomelanin in my hair or something along those lines. It's actually one of the reasons why I want to be a doctor when I'm done with school. I want to study unique abnormalities." Sakura said.

Before Itachi could respond Sasuke was back in the room with the popcorn, sodas, and Itachi's beer; Sasuke had already opened and poured the drinks into cups out of boredom from waiting for the popcorn. As he sat down he asked, "So what were you guys talking about?"

"My hair color," Sakura answered.

"Oh yeah? Isn't that freaky nii-san?" Sasuke asked, lightly teasing Sakura because of how self-conscious she was about it.

"Well it's definitely interesting," Itachi answered. Sakura stopped glaring at Sasuke to look at Itachi; he thought her hair was interesting? He wasn't freaked out by the fact that it was natural and wasn't dyed?

With Sasuke ruining the conversation, they returned their attention back to the movie. Once she was sure the boys' attentions were back on the television, Sakura casually cupped her right hand with Sasuke's and her left hand with Itachi's.

Itachi squeezed her hand gently in return. He wasn't sure if Sakura was holding his hand because she was flirting with him or if she was happy he didn't think she was weird; he figured it was a mixture of both.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Sasuke noticed Sakura and Itachi lace their fingers together.

Was that just Sakura's doing? Or was Itachi actually interested in her and he initiated it? Was Sakura _actually_ interested in Itachi, and if so was she still interested in himself? He thought she just wanted Itachi for popularity or to get back at him, and what would Naruto think if Sakura did like Itachi? Why'd he care so much about all of this?

He decided to stop thinking about the entire thing and to try and enjoy the movie. He un-cupped his hand from Sakura's and settled for wrapping his arm around her shoulders, leaning into her a little and chowing down on her popcorn. Since he was still keeping the physical contact she didn't complain and the three of them sat like that for the rest of the movie, Itachi leaning across Sakura every now and then to steal some of the popcorn sitting in the bowl on Sasuke's lap.

**AN: Alright this chapter has now been re-edited. If you amazing readers out there find anything wrong with it, plz let me know. Also, all the Pheomelanin stuff is from Wiki. Thanx for taking the time to read this. **


	4. Divided

**Warnings: Foul language. Alternative Universe.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 4: Divided**

**xxxxx**

Penelope ended and the credits began to role once. The three of them continued to sit on the couch not saying anything, unsure of what to do now; the silence becoming more awkward as the minutes ticked by.

'_Aruba, Jamaica oooh I wanna take you to Bermuda, Bahama come on'_…

"Hello?" Itachi asked, answering his cell phone. "I suppose if you need me to… okay… … … yeah, I'll be there in a bit," he closed his phone and looked over to Sasuke and Sakura, noting the perplexed looks on their faces. "Well, I'm going to have to end this visit; Kisame needs me to go over to his house so he can brief me on his biology lessons. He has to check into the hospital for a few days and he needs me to sub for him," Itachi said. He noticed the strange humored look that was creeping up on Sasuke's face. "What?"

"Was that your ringtone?" Sasuke asked, lightly tittering, a hand fisting near his mouth as he attempted to contain himself.

"Yes, why does that…" Itachi started to ask before being drowned out by Sasuke's laughter.

"You're going to be substituting for Kisame-sensei?" Sakura said; ignoring Sasuke.

"Hmm? Yeah, sometimes I do that," Itachi answered nonchalantly; still not grasping why Sasuke was laughing.

"Really? I've never had you as a substitute before," she retorted.

Itachi chuckled, "That's because I normally sub for the college section, every now and then for the middle school section."

Sasuke had stopped laughing, leaned towards Sakura, and whispered, knowing full well Itachi could still hear him, "He can't sub for the elementary section because he scares little kids."

Sakura gave him an odd look that seemed to scream 'r-really?' so Itachi rolled his eyes and responded, saying, "It really just depends on the teachers and who's too lazy to hire a professional substitute. And what exactly is wrong with my ring tone?" He added the last part to Sasuke.

"I just wasn't expecting it," Sasuke said.

Itachi sighed and stood up, letting go of Sakura's hand in the process. "I best be going." He began to head out of the room adding, "I'll see you kids later," just before he left.

**xxxxx**

Once she was sure that Itachi was out of the house, Sakura eyed Sasuke, and then pulled herself onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can't believe he called me a 'kid', and after holding my hand and everything," she whined into the crook of his neck.

"Did I not mention the age difference?" Sasuke asked uncomfortably, his personal space being excessively invaded.

"But he held my hand! We even laced our fingers together," Sakura argued, pulling away from his chest so she could look into his mesmerizingly dark eyes. Would he believe her if she told him she still loved him?

Sasuke ignored her, he told himself he wasn't going to think about the intimacy that Sakura and Itachi had shared. "So, now what?" He asked instead, trying to change the subject.

"We could make-out," Sakura offered. She hated blackmailing him, but at least now he was in her grip, and she didn't want to let him go. Not yet anyway.

"I'd rather not," Sasuke retorted. But could he really refuse if she made him?

"Oh stop whining and kiss me," Sakura snapped. Why couldn't he just want her the same way she wanted him?

Her eyelids fell slowly as she brought her lips to his. He stared at her closed eyes and went to push her away, bringing his hands up to the sides of her chest, but she grabbed them and moved them up to either side of his head to rest on the couch. Her mouth moved against his in an effort to get him to kiss her back but he froze, not knowing how to respond. He knew she wanted to do more than the light kisses they had shared at the theater or outside her house.

She readjusted her legs, positioning them on either side of his body as she rolled her tongue slowly across his lips. They started blushing feverishly, both more inexperienced than they'd like to admit, and with a shy grind of her hips Sasuke finally complied, closing his eyes and parting his lips.

Her tongue did a nervous ballet along his, leaving the taste of mint in his mouth, his lips awkwardly moved against hers in response, seemingly compelling her to do more. Her breath caught from what she felt was his encouragement and he took the chance it left to form his own attack.

While her invasion had been light and graceful, his was a tango, combined from his confusions, mixed emotions, and lustful need for experimentation. Caught up in her own emotions and desires, Sakura bucked her hips against him in need, even Sasuke started to lose control of himself as he let a small thrust-up to meet her escape him. Their breathing was growing federated as their breath started to fall short. They gasped for air each time their lips broke apart. Sakura's hands left Sasuke's to clutch at his chest, griping into his shirt for some need of support, an equal need that Sasuke met by wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her closer.

Their kiss came to an end as the lack of oxygen finally got to them. "But I thought you… didn't like me…" Sakura said confused once she felt an uncomfortable hardness beneath her.

"I'm a healthy young man Sakura, it's not that hard to get aroused," Sasuke answered huskily, his cheeks red from the experience.

"Sasuke? Itachi? Can one of you come to the kitchen?" a voice called from another room, startling Sasuke and Sakura.

"Who's that?" Sakura asked.

"That's my grandpa Madara, though right now he'll be going by Tobi," Sasuke answered. "I need to get up and see what he wants." He motioned for her to get off of him. Sakura hesitated at first before standing up. She followed him out of the room and into the kitchen.

"Ooh! Who's your friend Sasuke? I've never seen her before," Tobi asked, smiling when Sasuke and Sakura entered the kitchen.

"This is my girlfriend Sakura. Sakura this is my grandpa Tobi," Sasuke said, introducing the two to each other. "What do you need?"

"Grandpa Tobi's hungry!" Tobi whined. "Make Tobi lunch pwease?"

"I don't know if you deserve it; you weren't a very good boy this morning," Sasuke said nicely but bitterly.

"What did I do?" Tobi asked, sitting on a stool next to the counter in the room.

"Forget it, what do you want?" Sasuke asked, deciding it was a waste explaining.

"Soup and a samich!" Tobi grinned.

"Stew and sandwiches okay?" Sasuke walked to the refrigerator to get the left over stew he made from a few nights ago as well as some things for the sandwiches. Sakura took a seat at the kitchen table while Tobi clapped his hands and grinned enthusiastically.

The room stayed silent as Sasuke made the sandwiches and warmed the stew. Sasuke didn't know what to say to Sakura, his head still filled with the confusion left from their kiss, and he was still on edge around his grandfather due to their previous encounter. Sakura wasn't sure what a good conversation to have with Tobi would be, and she didn't want to talk to Sasuke in front of him. Tobi was content with staring at the birds outside the window.

Once the food was ready, Tobi gave Sasuke his thanks and took his plate and bowl to another room. "So, I didn't know you could cook, when did you learn that?" Sakura commented, wanting to break the silence but not knowing where to start.

"Well my mom started to teach me when I was little, of course she had already taught Itachi by that point 'cause he's older, and he was pretty good at it. But, um… then she died and I was sent here. Madara doesn't cook, Tobi can't cook, and Itachi was sent away, so I took what she taught me and just experimented," Sasuke answered.

"I-I'm sorry to have you bring that up," Sakura said meaningfully.

"It's alright, Itachi wasn't allowed to cook where he was sent so it's pretty awesome 'cause I'm better at it then he is now," Sasuke smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Wanna go to the skate park when we're done eating?"

"Sure I guess. Why did you introduce him to me as Tobi when you said his name is Madara?" She asked.

"Madara was basically disowned from my family many years ago. Technically he's not my grandpa. More like a grand-fourth cousin or something. But basically, having his entire family, and I mean every relative he knew and didn't know, tell him that he wasn't wanted, did a number on his psyche. As the years and then decades went by he slowly grew angrier, but at the same time he kept trying desperately to find the good in everything. Eventually those two conflicting ways of thinking split and Tobi was born," Sasuke explained.

"Why did your family disown him?" Sakura questioned.

"I don't know. Tobi's too childish to grasp any of this so I've had to ask Madara but Madara hasn't stayed calm long enough to explain that far."

"When and how do they change?"

"Sometimes they wake up different, sometimes it's really random, and sometimes if you get their emotions going they'll switch. As in, if you can actually make Madara happy and get him to laugh he'll change to Tobi. Likewise, if you start to show your annoyance towards Tobi's childish ways he'll get upset and turn into Madara."

They had finished eating so Sakura offered to wash the dishes while Sasuke put everything away. Afterwards, they walked to the garage and headed for Sasuke's motorcycle. Sasuke handed Sakura a helmet and put his own on. Once Sakura had straddled the bike, her arms wrapped around Sasuke's waist, they took off towards town. A short six minutes later they were at the park. "So why did you want to come here?" Sakura asked as they got off, Sasuke leading her to a nearby park bench.

"I dunno, this place just helps me think I guess, and I don't really like being in the house when Itachi's not there" Sasuke answered.

"Why not?" Sakura asked. Sasuke ignored her, fighting his surfacing memories, he didn't want to think about them now. "I'm kinda surprised that no one's here," Sakura said offhandedly, when she realized Sasuke wasn't going to answer her. "How did Naruto and his friends become skaters anyway?" She decided to change the subject.

"Youtube," Sasuke smirked.

"Care to elaborate?" Sakura mumbled; annoyed by how cryptic he was being.

Sasuke answered, leaning back with his hands behind his head as he stretched his legs out, "Kiba saw a youtube video of someone's dog skating on a skateboard. His dog, Akamaru, was much smaller then, and he thought he'd try teaching him. Naruto liked the idea too so he opted to join, but teaching Akamaru was harder than they thought it would be so they asked Shikamaru to help. After a lot of convincing from Chōji the four of them started coming here regularly to teach him. Then Naruto and Kiba got interested in skating in general. Naruto a bit more so."

"Well you like what you like I guess, do you skate?"

"Not really, Naruto taught me a little and it's nice to not fall every time I get on the board, but I'm happy letting it be Naruto's hobby."

"He left his board in your car, wanna show me a few tricks later when Itachi gets back?"

"Don't even ask, Naruto would kill me if he found out I used his board without permission!" Sasuke said.

"He's that protective over a skateboard?" Sakura asked in sarcastic astonishment.

"It's no secret that Naruto's poor, Sakura. He hates hanging out with a bunch of rich people all the time because he feels that when we offer him money that it's out of pity. Iruka can barely afford his school enrolment along with having to feed him, so his board and his crappy truck have all had to come out of his own pocket," Sasuke said defensively.

"So?"

"So? He works his ass off to pay for these things; he takes pride from the fact that he was able to buy them with his own hard earned money. And as for the skateboard, basically he says he never wants me on it when he's not around because he rues the day when I'm finally going to break it, and if and when I do break it he at least wants to be there to watch," Sasuke said with all seriousness.

Sakura giggled lightly, humored by the strange connection that could be seen between Sasuke and Naruto. She jumped a little when her cell phone started vibrating unexpectedly. "Hello?" She asked, not bothering to check the ID. "Oh hey Temari! … You're brother? Kankurō? No? … … Yeah sure! … Ino too? Sounds fun! Be there soon, bye!"

"Be there soon?" Sasuke asked.

"I guess Temari has a younger brother, besides Kankurō, who's transferring to our school and she wants Ino and me to meet him," Sakura replied.

"Am I meeting him too?" Sasuke asked uneasily.

"Not at all; you're to socially awkward, but if you want to take me home now that'd be great," Sakura said. They went back to his bike and he took off towards her house.

**xxxxx**

When they reached Sakura's house she descended from the motorcycle. "I'll give you tomorrow off to do what you want."

_'Sweet!' _"Thanks; I'll see you Monday then, I guess," Sasuke said. Sakura wanted to kiss him goodbye but felt too awkward, so she gave a smile and a small wave, and then walked inside her house, with the sound of Sasuke's bike leaving behind her.

Once inside, Sakura walked to her bedroom and grabbed her car keys. She quickly went to her car and started it, leaving for Temari's shortly after.

Ino and Sakura reached Temari's at the same time. "Did she tell you anything about him?" Ino inquired as they walked to the front door.

"Nothing, except that he's a little mentally disturbed," Sakura said.

"Yeah, and something about him transferring from a special school for people with psychological problems," Ino added.

"I hadn't heard that part," Sakura frowned. They rang the doorbell and were quickly greeted by Temari.

"I'm glad you could come," Temari said as she ushered the girls up the stairs and to her brother's room. "His old school was a boarding school if you're wondering why you haven't met him before," she explained.

"Gaara, this is Sakura and this is Ino," She said, introducing the three of them, "Ino, Sakura, my younger brother Gaara."

Before them stood the scariest looking person they'd ever met. He wore military boots, Mondo Tripp pants loaded with thick; heavy looking chains, both of which were nearly completely covered by a trench coat that also seemed to be covering a fishnet shirt. His eyes were loaded with thick black eyeliner but it didn't make him look pretty like Sasuke's did. In fact, he looked even creepier, like a raccoon; his eyes piercing; taunting; waiting. He'd shaven off his eyebrows and dyed his hair a crimson red. The thing that shocked the girls the most though, was the tattoo imprinted right onto his forehead.

"It's nice to me-meet you…" Sakura said, trying to hide her fear.

Gaara's eyes seemed to double in size, nearly popping out as his brow furrowed in an unmatched amount of intense anger.

"I told you I didn't want to meet anyone today," he spat towards Temari.

"They're just a few of my friends Gaara, wouldn't it be nice to know a few people so you won't feel uncomfortable if you have questions on Monday?" Temari asked innocently. Gaara ignored her and brushed past the three of them and down the stairs, the front door banging in his wake.

"So, your brothers a psycho and I totally thought you were joking when you said he had mental problems," Ino said. Temari scoffed but Sakura nodded her head in agreement. One thing she and Ino had definitely learned though: they did not want to get on that boy's shit list.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke had arrived home. He started to walk to the stairs that led to the hallway his bedroom was located at when arms wrapped around him from behind. _'Shit!' _

One of the hands snaked its way to his mouth, pinching the sides of his face, making his cheeks and lips puff out. The hand gripping his face jerked it to the side, making it easier for Madara to stare at his eyes, but also causing pain in Sasuke's neck from the sudden whiplash. "I don't get it… I don't get it… I… Don't… Get… It," Madara repeated.

"D-don't get what… sir?" Sasuke asked. He wasn't answered. Instead, Madara, keeping a firm grip on Sasuke to hold him in place, leaned his face towards his. He continued to stare into Sasuke's eyes, his own darting back and forth to look between the two. _'What's he going to do to me?' _Sasuke asked himself.

Slowly Madara opened his mouth and exhaled, allowing his hot breath to swim into Sasuke's face. Sasuke unintentionally closed his eyes from the pushing air. Madara gently kissed both of Sasuke's closed eyes, "please turn soon," he pleaded, but when Sasuke opened his eyes again they were still black. Madara sighed in a defeated manner and lightly released his grip on Sasuke. Sasuke sank to the ground; his energy always seemed to drain from his encounters with his grandfather. "You're eyes are perfect but you're still a failure. If you were more like your brother they'd be red by now. Stop wasting my time and hurry up and get stronger," Madara ordered, glaring at Sasuke as he towered over him.

"Y-yes sir," Sasuke stuttered. Madara stared at Sasuke a while longer before he finally huffed and walked away, Sasuke running up the stairs to his room a couple of minutes later, locking the door behind him. He paced his room back and forth, from one wall to the other and back again. Why was Madara like that? Had he always been that crazy? Sasuke collapsed onto his bed, trying to ignore the familiar questions that had been popping into his head since he had first moved here and discovered what a freak Madara was.

He needed to vent. He needed to get his mind off of the situation. Normally he'd write his problems out but he feared someone would find what he would write and would try to blackmail him like Sakura was doing. He growled in frustration. He didn't want to call his brother; he hated how he always needed to rely on him. But there was someone else who thought of him as a brother, wasn't there? He grabbed his cell phone and dialed the familiar number.

The number he dialed never stopped its ringing. After a few minutes there was a _click _and the answering machine sounded, "Hello! You've reached the Umino and Uzumaki residence, we're not here to answer the phone right now… So leave your info and we might call back!" Naruto's voice sounded towards the end of the message, overriding Iruka's.

"Naruto are you home? Pick up the phone!" Sasuke demanded. He stayed on the line a few minutes later before he heard another _click_.

"Hello?" Naruto answered groggily.

"Were you sleeping?" Sasuke wondered.

"Yeah… What's up?" Naruto asked.

"Madara attacked me _again _today," Sasuke answered.

"Again? He attacked you earlier?" Naruto asked befuddled and waking up a little more. It wasn't like Madara to confront Sasuke more than once a day. "It wasn't anything serious was it? Did you tell Itachi?"

"I hate having to depend on Itachi," Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah well you don't defend yourself so someone has to for you," Naruto argued. "Just stay away from him as much as you can and _don't _leave Itachi's side tomorrow! Got that?"

"Yeah…"

"Good, look, call me if he does it a third time okay? But for now I really need to get back to bed," Naruto hung up and Sasuke sighed. He wasn't sure what he thought would happen if he called Naruto, but he did feel a little better from telling someone. He put his phone on his desk and sprawled out on his bed.

He was finally starting to calm down and drift off into a nice nap when a loud banging echoed from the other side of his door. "Sasuke get out here, we need to talk!" Madara demanded from outside his room.

'_Again?' _Sasuke asked himself as he sat up and stared at his door; the handle jiggling as Madara tried desperately to get inside.

**xxxxx**

**AN: Chapter 4: EDITED**

**-If you see any errors let me know plz **


	5. Quarrels

**Warnings: foul language. And sorry if characters are ooc!**

**Pairings: ---**

**AN: thoughts in _italics_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's copyrighted **

**Chapter 5: Quarrels**

**xxxxx**

Naruto stared at the ceiling. He had finally woken up from his nap and was watching his ceiling fan rotate slowly. It was around two and he decided it was time he got up. "Ugh there's nothing to do!" he complained as he walked through his small yet spacious house. He had tried watching TV, reading, and even doing homework but nothing was dulling his boredom.

"To bad I don't have my truck," he pouted as he entered the kitchen. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch and it was getting harder to ignore the painful cries of his stomach so he figured he should stop being lazy and make something to eat. He made himself a bowl of ramen and thought about what he could do to relieve his boredom while he ate.

Once he was done eating he ran to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Afterwards he threw some gel in his hair and raked his finger through it a few times to give it its unkempt spiky look. Then he went back to his room to change into some cleaner clothes. He threw on a pair of baggy ripped dark-blue jeans, a black long-sleeved undershirt, and an orange shirt that said 'NINJA!' on top of it and left the house, hoping something interesting would happen if he went for a walk.

He walked for a while, kicking stones with his foot whenever he'd come across them, until he was out of the housing district section of the town. He was subconsciously heading for the skate park. He came to a crosswalk and as he was looking for cars he noticed a boy around his age with red hair and a tattoo on his forehead standing across the street opposite of him. As he neared Gaara, who had continued to stand there staring at him, he gave him a puzzled look. _'Why is he staring at me?'_ He was about to shrug the question off as he walked past when Gaara spoke.

"What are you looking at?" Gaara's low, raspy voice asked.

"I could really ask you the same question," Naruto answered as he frowned at Gaara, on edge, he didn't like that boys tone.

Gaara's eyes hitched as his brow wrinkled from an unknown source of rage. He turned his head slightly so that he was looking at Naruto again. He unfolded his arms and took a deep breath. Quickly he fisted his hand and flung it at Naruto.

Naruto quickly ducked and punched Gaara in the torso. He was happy he had anticipated Gaara's movements, but he cursed under his breath as he tried to figure out why the boy wanted to fight. He cursed louder when his hand hit something hard. Naruto looked at where he punched in confusion, it was the guys gut alright, but then why did it hurt so much, rock hard abs were never this rock hard!

Gaara saw the opening Naruto was leaving, as Naruto gawked at Gaara's torso, and slammed his elbow onto Naruto's head; he had been aiming for his neck but missed once Naruto had realized he'd left his defenses down and tried to dodge.

Naruto fell to the sidewalk. He recovered quickly and grabbed the back of his head for a second before absentmindedly dodging a kick from Gaara, very grateful from all the fighting experience he'd picked up from his bouts with Sasuke. He clenched his hand and aimed for Gaara's face. The two traded punches for a while until Naruto found an opening and round-housed the side of Gaara's head. Gaara stumble backward and fell to the ground. He growled in anger and reached for his pocket, pulling out a small butterfly knife. "Well that's not fair…" Naruto mumbled.

"Rest assured, I will kill you," Gaara smirked, his eyes large and wild from the thought. He rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip, collecting some blood that had formed from a cut given to him by Naruto. He licked the blood off sadistically as he stared at Naruto, his eyes begging for a taste of his own blood.

Naruto's eyes widened a little, possibly in fear, but he couldn't help mocking Gaara, it was just in his nature. He grabbed ahold of himself and grinned asking, "are you a vampire of something?"

Gaara snorted and charged at him, ready and willing to use his knife. As Garra flung his arm at Naruto, knife in hand, Naruto ducked. He launched his fist into the underside of Gaara's jaw, sending Gaara off his feet. Gaara landed on the ground hard and didn't get up. Naruto nudged his head with his foot but it became apparent to him that he had knocked Gaara out.

'_Naruto 1 : Spook 0,' _he thought as he dragged Gaara to the side of a building so that he wasn't just laying randomly on the side walk. He grabbed the knife and pocketed it as a souvenir before continuing on his walk.

**xxxxx**

"What is it you want sir?" Sasuke asked while he reached for his cell phone and keys and pocketed them as he waited for Madara's response.

"Stop being rude, I know I taught you better than that! Now open the door!" Madara commanded.

"Not until you calm down," Sasuke ordered. He had attached five locks onto the door so he was safe as long as he stayed in his room. That, and if Madara did manage to break down the door Sasuke had already thought up an escape route. One that he'd only had to use once before and it had cost him a broken arm and a sprained ankle, but he wasn't 10 anymore so if need be he should be fine. _'Right?'_ He walked towards his stereo and began to turn the music up, he'd need it to be louder than the sound of his window opening so that Madara didn't catch on to what he was doing.

"Alright… I'm calm," Madara said coolly from the other side of the door a few minutes later, just as Sasuke was about to climb onto the roof through the window.

Sasuke hesitated, he could make a clean escape now, or he could see if Madara had really calmed down. It was unusual for Madara to attack twice in one day so the chances of him attacking three times was pretty slim, but if he did attack then Sasuke could always run back to the window and hope Madara wouldn't follow him. He stared towards the door, weighing his options, but he finally chose to walk across the room and open the door. He braced himself, preparing for anything, "what did you need sir?" He asked as he slowly pulled the door open. They stared at each other until Madara jumped on him, wrestling him to the ground.

Madara grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and shoved him to the floor. "Don't play stupid! You may not be as smart as your brother but you're smart enough to know what I want!" Madara growled and he continued to wrestle with Sasuke. If Sasuke didn't defend himself now something bad could happen. But he couldn't. He didn't want to fight. "Okay…" He started, feigning defeat. Madara's attack stopped and Sasuke continued, "If you get off of me I will show you."

"Why should I get off? Show me right now!" Madara demanded.

"I need to relax and calm down first! I can't do that with you pinning me to the floor!" Sasuke argued. He hadn't realized but apparently he'd said something that clicked in Madara's head.

"So your eyes _can_ turn red!" Madara grinned as he quickly got off of Sasuke. "Show me! Show me now!"

Sasuke took a deep breath and nodded. He sat up slowly, looking at the ground; he barely had any time to think about how to get out of this situation. But with a quick intake of breath he jumped up and headed for the window, the only escape he could think of. Madara was quick to follow and Sasuke barely made it outside when Madara grabbed his arm. Sasuke tried to shake his hand off but lost his footing. Madara's grip slipped and Sasuke fell off the ledge outside his window. He dropped the three stories but was able to land on his feet, rolling across the ground to disperse the force from his land, at the moment very happy that he had Guy as his gym teacher.

"Sasuke?" He heard Madara say as he lay on the grass near his house. He shakily stood up and walked to the garage, looking up to his window and watching as Madara glared at him.

Sasuke knew he had won this round. Madara wouldn't chase him now, if he did, there was a chance Sasuke wouldn't come back home. Once Sasuke was in the garage he grabbed his keys from his pocket and started his bike. Once he calmed his nerves a little he sped towards town.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke wasn't sure where to go. He wanted to see his brother because Itachi always made him feel protected and they got along well, but seeing Naruto sounded good too, him and Naruto were best friends and they could always joke around about stuff. Either way, he found himself at the skate park, a place he always seemed to go when he didn't know what to do. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and called Itachi once he had parked his bike. "Where are you?" He asked once Itachi had picked up.

"I'm with Kisame, didn't I tell you that? Is something wrong?" Itachi asked, recognizing the slight shake in Sasuke's voice that always seemed to appear after Madara had done something.

"How long will you be at Kisame's?" Sasuke wondered, ignoring Itachi's questioning as usual, as he got off his bike, planning to go sit on a bench.

"About another hour maybe, then I was thinking about going to Sasori's to talk to him since I couldn't last night. Is that okay?" Itachi said, sarcastically asking for permission.

"That's fine Itachi, look I have to go," Sasuke said as he hung up on his brother, he had noticed a certain blonde haired boy lying on a nearby bench. Sasuke frowned as he walked closer to the sleeping Naruto. He had a black eye and there were a few cuts and bruises on his arms. Sasuke wanted to wake him up and ask him what had happened so he slapped Naruto's sensitive face.

"Aagh!" Naruto bellowed, sitting up hurriedly to see who his attacker was. Once he realized it was Sasuke he relaxed and rubbed his face asking, "what the fuck teme?"

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto sighed and scooted to one side of the bench so Sasuke could sit on the other. "It went kind of like this…" He started, explaining his fight to Sasuke.

**xxxxx**

Once Naruto had finished explaining Sasuke looked at him, "did I mention your weekend sucks?"

"Tell me about it!" Naruto play whined, "You and Sakura are dating, my truck got stolen, I forgot my skateboard in Itachi's car, and I got in a fight with some random guy off the street!"

"Yeah and you didn't even start the fight this time," Sasuke agreed.

"I know right!" Naruto frowned. He and Sasuke laughed a little. "So now what?"

"My grandpa attacked me again…" Sasuke said.

"Shit! You didn't try to call me did you?" Naruto asked, he felt it stupid to ask if Sasuke was okay since he could see that he was.

"No I took off mid attack," Sasuke explained.

"So you defended yourself!" Naruto exclaimed proudly.

"Um… No…" Sasuke hesitated, knowing Naruto would be angry. And Naruto was angry, which was made apparent when he punched Sasuke off of the bench.

"You're so fucking stupid," he said.

Sasuke ignored him and changed the subject, "I was thinking about meeting with Itachi in an hour, wanna play videogames at your house 'till then?"

"Yeah sure…" Naruto said. As they walked to Sasuke's motorcycle Naruto asked, "hey can I drive?"

"Hmm? Why?" Sasuke wondered.

"Cause whenever we ride this thing and I have to sit behind you I just feel like your little bitch," Naruto explained.

"I thought you liked it since you're always hugging my waist when we ride," Sasuke retorted with a smirk.

"That's because you like to take sharp corners at sixty miles an hour," Naruto argued.

"Do not," Sasuke said playfully, "fine you can drive, but only because I plan on letting you borrow it to get yourself to school on Monday."

"Really, why do you want me to borrow it?" Naruto asked.

"Itachi doesn't have any afternoon or evening classes on Mondays so he can't drive me home right away after school. This way I can grab your board in the morning and we can trade later," Sasuke said.

"I get ya! Sounds good to me," Naruto smiled, he loved when Sasuke let him drive his bike. They climbed onto the bike and headed for Naruto's house.

**xxxxx**

After playing videogames for an hour and a half, Sasuke left to go to Sasori's and find his brother. Naruto offered him a ride but Sasuke wanted to sort his thoughts out. After getting lost a few times he was able to find the old puppet shop that Sasori and his grandma lived in. He went to the side door and knocked. The door opened to reveal Sasori talking to someone across the room. He turned to see who was at the door and a surprised look crept onto his face. "Well hello, what brings you here?" He asked.

"Is my brother here by chance?" Sasuke answered with a question, though he knew full well Itachi was there since his car was parked outside.

"Yes he is, care to see him?"

"What do you think?" Sasuke hated stupid questions.

"Stop being rude to my friend otouto," Itachi said as he walked into the entranceway, having heard Sasuke talking from the other room. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Oh I'm sorry, didn't know I wasn't wanted," Sasuke said stiffly.

Itachi sighed, "don't talk like that, now come inside." Sasuke entered the house and Itachi lead him into the living room.

"Oh look it's Sasuke!" Deidara cheered once he saw Sasuke. "Come sit next to me!" He scooted to the side of the couch and patted at the newly open spot next to him. Sasuke gave him a puzzled look but complied. He watched as Itachi and Sasori sat in chairs across from each other, heatedly discussing something, probably college stuff, maybe Itachi was going to sub for Sasori too. "So what brings you here?" Deidara asked.

Sasuke ignored him, Deidara didn't need to know about his home life.

"Being an ass as always I see," Deidara said. "You're still better company than that other creep…"

_'Other creep?' _Sasuke thought, "who are you talking about?" Deidara motioned towards the hall. Sasuke looked over and saw Sai walking towards them. He sat next to Sasuke, _'so that's why Deidara wanted me to sit here!'_

"Sasuke? What a pleasure seeing you here," Sai started saying, his fake smile spread across his face, "then again, I figured you'd come find me for what I offered you last night, they always do." Sasuke wasted no time as he punched Sai in the face. Sai fell off the couch and continued smiling towards Sasuke, "good aim, I could almost feel it even, but with a punch like that you must be an 'uke'.

"You little-" Sasuke started as he jumped at Sai and tried to fight him. If only Itachi hadn't grabbed him from behind. _'Damnit!'_

"Calm down Sasuke," Itachi warned.

As Sasuke struggled in his brother's grip, Chiyo walked into the room. "What's with all the commotion?"

Sasuke couldn't help but blurt out, "he called me an 'uke'!" as he pointed at Sai.

"I'm quite sure I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you continue on like this I will have to ask you to leave," Chiyo said before walking out of the room again.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked as Itachi laughed behind him.

"Don't take Sai too seriously," Itachi started, "one of the girls in his class, I think her name was…"

"Tayuya." Sai said.

"Right, Tayuya, she lent him some yaoi and now he keeps trying to decide who's uke and who's seme."

"Grandma Chiyo's 'seme'," Sasori laughed when he remembered Sai deciding that.

"You piss me off," Sasuke spat at Sai, still angry.

Sai stood up, still smiling, and said, "you piss me off too." He leaned forward to take advantage of Sasuke's predicament when Itachi pinched his nose.

"Remember what you decided I was?" He asked Sai.

"Seme, of course," Sai answered a little nasally.

"And do you remember why you decided I was seme?" Itachi smirked.

"Cause you dropped kicked me earlier and it hurt…" Sai said catching on to what Itachi was getting at.

"Stop hitting on my brother Sai, he's not interested. Right?" He asked Sasuke.

"Right!" Sasuke answered. Sai backed off, not wanting to be hit again. Itachi had attacked him earlier because of what he said the last time he had seen Sasuke.

Itachi went back to his chair to continue his conversation, Sasuke following behind him, sitting on the floor, and leaning against the side of his chair. He couldn't stand being near Sai at the moment. He brooded on the floor and shot a glance at Sai, who noticed and smiled at him.

**xxxxx**

After a couple hours of Itachi and Sasori discussing school and Sai hitting on Deidara and giving Sasuke _looks _Sasuke and Itachi left for their home.

"Why does Sasori let Sai hit on Deidara?" Sasuke asked as they drove home.

"Sai threatened to tell the school board about them," Itachi explained.

"So he's blackmailing them?" Sasuke asked. Itachi nodded and Sasuke glared out the window, he really despised Sai.

**xxxxx**

**AN: Sorry this chapter took longer than usual to get out! There was sooo many different ways I could've made this go. I hope you enjoyed it and reviewers are wonderful!**


	6. Daunting Mondays

**Warnings: foul language. And sorry if characters are ooc!**

**Pairings: barely any lols -_-**

**AN: thoughts in _italics_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's copyrighted **

**Chapter 6: Daunting Mondays**

**xxxxx**

Sunday came and went without much commotion. Sasuke hung out with Itachi in his room all day, the two of them reading, doing homework, and talking about miscellaneous things, only escaping out of the safety of Itachi's room to venture downstairs and into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Not once had Itachi left Sasuke's side once he learned that Madara had attacked him again. Though, needless to say, he only found out about the second attack because Naruto had called him Saturday night, knowing full well that Sasuke wouldn't say anything.

Though Sasuke appreciated Itachi's efforts and concern, he soon grew annoyed of Itachi's constant presence. Chilling with Itachi in his room was one thing, but having Itachi go so far as to stand outside the bathroom while Sasuke relieved himself was another, though he was thankful for Itachi's intrusiveness, seeing as how Madara had indeed walked down the hallway that connected to the bathroom Sasuke was in while he was in there. No confrontation though, thanks to Itachi.

And thus Monday arrived. With his radio-alarm going off Sasuke was quick to change into some clean clothes and brush his teeth in the bathroom. He headed for the kitchen to make some cereal. Madara and Itachi were already sitting at the kitchen table, Madara casually sipping coffee while Itachi read the newspaper and ate a bagel.

"You seem cheerful," Madara commented.

"Of course, I finally get to get out of the house and do something today, and I get my bike back," Sasuke grinned. He might have let Naruto borrow it but he was secretly brooding with fear that Naruto had totaled it.

"Hated hanging out with me that much huh?" Itachi joked from behind his paper. While Sasuke ate his cereal and Itachi read, Madara stood up to leave the room. He clasped his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and squeezed lightly, leaving Sasuke stiff as a board and Itachi staring over his paper. He left it at that though, removing his hand and heading out of the room. The brothers sighed in relief and headed for the garage once Sasuke was done eating.

**xxxxx**

As they pulled up into the school parking, at the college section, they noticed Naruto talking to Deidara near the front doors. Before getting out of the car Sasuke leaned towards the backseat and grabbed Naruto's board. "What are you doing over here? Miss your board so much you couldn't wait for me to walk to the high school?" Sasuke asked once he'd caught up with Itachi who was standing with Naruto and Deidara.

"I had a question for Itachi, and while I was waiting for you guys to show up Deidara thought he'd fill me in on your boyfriend," Naruto chuckled.

"My… what?" Sasuke asked completely confused.

"You know, Sai! I think you guys would make a great couple, you should express it more publicly though, that way I can start dating Sakura," Naruto continued. Naruto, Deidara, and Itachi laughed as they stared at Sasuke's flabbergasted expression.

"What have you been telling him?" Sasuke asked Deidara.

"Nothing much hnnn, just complaining about yesterday," Deidara chuckled.

"Yeah Sasuke relax, I was just joking," Naruto said.

"Well, I'm gonna head to class so that Sasori and I have some… alone time, hnnn," Deidara smiled and walked away.

"Why is he 'hnnn'ing?" Sasuke asked.

"He probably forgot to take his medication," Itachi answered.

"Medication? For what?" Naruto asked intrigued. The three of them started walking to the high school section.

"That's his business so ask him," Itachi replied, "what was that question you wanted to ask me?"

Naruto paused for a second before chuckling nervously, "a-about that…" he started, "you know how I deliver pizza's? Well, I sorta don't have my truck anymore and without it I can't deliver so I was wondering if I could use your car please?" He asked, giving Itachi a nervous smile.

"You still don't have your truck? Don't you only have a certain amount of days to get it back?" Sasuke asked a little shocked by Naruto's request.

"Well you see, the ticket's like $100 and it's $50 for every night that it's at the compound. So it's already costing me 200 bucks and I don't get paid for another two weeks and by then it will cost me about $900, but my paycheck's only gonna be like two fifty and I don't think they'll actually hold it for the 2 weeks anyway so…" Naruto explained.

Sasuke and Itachi stared at Naruto, he looked defeated, that truck was his most prized possession, he had worked the hardest to buy it. "How about this," Itachi said, "do you have enough money to pay for your ticket?" Naruto nodded his head. "Okay, you pay for your ticket and I'll buy your truck back. It can hang out in my garage until you make enough money to buy it back from me. And until then I'll let you rent out either my car or your truck but you have to pay for gas too."

Naruto wasn't sure how to respond. He didn't want to have to rely on Itachi like this but if he declined the offer he'd never see his truck again. "Thank you," he said solemnly. He continued to weigh his options and finally agreed, "that would mean a lot to me," he finally added a few minutes later.

Itachi smiled and rubbed Naruto's hair affectionately, he turned away from the two boys and started walking towards the high school entrance. With a wave of his hand he called out, "see you in class."

"See us in class?" Naruto asked Sasuke as he handed him the keys to his motorcycle.

"He's substituting for Kisame today," Sasuke answered before being jumped on.

"SASUKE!" The girl grabbing hold of him whooped. Sasuke wanted to turn his head to see who was holding him but the girls arms were wrapped around his neck and had him locked in place. "Hello to you to Na…ru…to…" She added seductively.

Naruto flushed, "hello… Karin."

'_Karin?' _Sasuke thought. _'Why of all people does it have to be Karin?'_ Frantically Sasuke started thinking of excuses to get out of Karin's grip.

He didn't have anything against her personally, but her obsessiveness over him was kind of creepy. On his birthdays and every Valentine's Day for the past three years now she would steal the locker keys from the janitor and use them to fill his locker up with an innumerous amount of… things, which would normally range from candies and chocolates, to perfumes, girls' underwear (inscribed with Karin Uchiha), …pictures, and one time he even found a whip and a dog collar.

"Tsk, tsk Sasuke, I can't believe you'd two-time Sakura like this," Naruto frowned disappointed.

'_Thank you Naruto!' _Sasuke inwardly cheered. He wasn't sure if Naruto had said that to help him out or not but it'd definitely help.

"Wha? Is that true?" Karin asked as she climbed off Sasuke to run in front of him, her fingers curling as she held them to her chest and tears started forming in her eyes. "Why? You know how much I like you so why?" She cried.

"Uhm…" Sasuke started, not sure what to say. Naruto and Karin stared at him intensely, both wanting to know the answer that he had been hoping to avoid. "well… one day I just…" he tried but was having difficulties finding a good enough reason.

"Sasu…ke!" Sakura called as she raced over to them. "Didn't you hear the morning bell ring? We've got to hurry if you plan on walking me to class!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the school, "Bye Naruto! Karin!"

'_Thank you Sakura! Even though you're the reason I was in that predicament…' _Sasuke thought to himself as he allowed Sakura to drag him away.

"Argh! That stupid cow! How dare she date him!" Karin yelled and stomped her foot in the ground in anger. As she huffed Naruto slipped away, not wanting to get caught up in her bipolar antics.

**xxxxx**

"Sakura, I'd love to walk you to your class but I'm running late as it is and I still have to get to my locker," Sasuke apologized. Sakura gave him a quick kiss goodbye and made her way to her classroom, Sasuke heading for his locker. He put most of his books back into his locker, but kept the one's he'd need for his 2nd and 3rd hour classes, and then headed to his first hour class.

**xxxxx**

His schedule goes like this:

1st hour: Art I – Konan (?)

2nd hour: World History – Yamato Tenzō

3rd hour: Biology – Kisame Hoshigaki

4th hour: P.E. – Might Guy

LUNCH

5th hour: Homeroom – Kakashi Hatake

6th hour: Reading/Writing – Jiraiya (?)

7th hour: Math I – Ebisu (?)

**xxxxx**

Upon entering his art class Sasuke noticed something new standing in the room. A boy his age, that fit the description of Naruto's attacker perfectly.

Sasuke took his seat next to a window at the front of the class as the starting bell sounded. "Class," Konan said as she stood from her desk. "This is our new student, his name is Gaara," she said introducing everyone to Gaara. Before telling him to take a seat she looked at him and asked, "care to say a greeting of some sort?"

Gaara glared from her to the class. "Just one thing," he started, "If any one of you looks at me, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Sasuke openly snorted, trying to repress a laugh, giving off an air of mocking Gaara's presence.

Gaara slowly walked towards Sasuke. Once in front of his desk he leaned down so that the two of them were eye level. "And what may I ask is so funny?"

"You said you were going to kill anyone who looks at you, but you got your ass handed to you by Naruto," Sasuke answered truthfully and nonchalantly.

Gaara quit glaring and grinned. His eyes squinting as his lips stretched out in an upward curl sadistically. "Naruto… So that's his name. And since you know him, he probably goes to this school. Heh. Heh." Gaara stood up straight, "I'll let you go this time, because you've been so helpful," he added to Sasuke before taking an empty seat at the back of the class.

"Well that was… interesting," Konan muttered. "Alright, today I want you to illustrate to the class something you hold deep in your heart. A secret maybe. This will be an abstract project because there isn't any true way to grasp emotions. Now start!" The students stood and headed for the back of the class while Konan sat back at her desk.

**xxxxx**

About forty minutes into the class Konan was once again at the front of the room. "Alright everyone when I call your name proceed to the front of the class to present your picture. Hmm, Chōji you first!" Chōji grabbed his picture and walked to the front of the class. He held up a crudely drawn picture of a pig. It had been drawn out in pencil and colored with crayon. "Now, can anyone guess what this pig symbolizes?" Konan asked.

"His love for food!" A random student called out, raising a hand in the air. A few others agreed under their breath.

"Well whatever it is it will stay locked in Chōji's heart, I'm not going to make any of you explain what you created. Shino, your turn," Konan barked, "and take those sunglasses off!" Shino, a boy who always wore sunglasses and liked to keep his hood up, walked to the front of the room. His picture was painted in brown and gold with watercolors. Little golden globs of glitter filled the page randomly. "Anyone care to guess?" Konan asked. Silence filled the room as the students tried to figure out what Shino's picture was.

"They're bees… in a hive…" Shino explained, growing annoyed at the dumfounded class. "I like bugs…." He added as he walked back to his seat.

"Right…" Konan thought. She continued calling names out in no particular order since she wouldn't be able to get through everyone anyway. As the students presented their art the classroom door opened and Sai walked in. He walked to Konan and whispered in her ear. When they were done talking he proceeded to stand near the front of the class and watch the presentations. "We only have time for one more, Gaara, you're turn," Konan said bored.

Gaara sighed and stood up, refusing to go to the front of the class, he presented his picture from his desk. His picture was of a broken and bleeding heart, colored in dark blotchy red. "Wow, that picture's almost more emo then Sasuke," Sai smiled from the front of the class, earning a glare from Sasuke. "What did you use to color it?"

"Blood," Gaara answered. Everyone went quiet as they turned to look at him. Dry blood was covering one of his arms.

Silence continued to fill the room until Konan finally said, "Sasuke… why don't you take Gaara to the nurse's office?"

Complying, Sasuke grabbed his bag and headed for the door, Gaara following behind him. "See you later Sasuke," Sai smiled as he passed him.

**xxxxx**

They walked down the hallway that led to the nurse's office in silence, Sasuke a few feet in front of Gaara. As they began passing a window Sasuke stopped and looked out. "That's Naruto," he said, pointing to the blonde who was playing basketball with Kiba and a few others.

Gaara walked to the window. He didn't say anything so Sasuke looked at him. Gaara's eyes were bulging out as his brow furrowed and his mouth had drooped lower than an average frown.

"C'mon," Sasuke said as he continued down the hallway, deciding that he should tell Naruto to watch his back from now on.

**xxxxx**

After escorting Gaara to the nurse's office the bell had rung so Sasuke headed for his 2nd class. World History was as dull as it ever was, all he did was sit and take notes while he received notes from a handful of girls. The only difference was that he had to answer the ones he got from Sakura. After 2nd hour he headed for biology with Sakura glued to his side. He smiled a little as he remembered that Itachi would be substituting the class.

**xxxxx**

As the bell for everyone to be in their seats sounded Itachi entered the room. The class stopped their chattering instantly. "Is that who I think it is?" One random girl asked another. "I think so," another one answered.

"Quiet now," Itachi said softly but strictly as he stared at the whispering girls. "My name is Itachi Uchiha, I will be your substitute teacher for the day. Kisame has asked me to hand out worksheets for you. We will be doing drills of different formula's on the board and whatever you don't get done in class will be homework. Understand?"

The class shifted and said, "yes" in unison. Sasuke smirked, he knew Itachi was probably loving the control he had over the class right now.

"Who would like to start?" Itachi asked. Sakura raised her hand and Itachi nodded, signaling her to come to the board and work on the first formula. Once she reached the front of the classroom she gave Itachi a big smile and grabbed a red marker. As she worked on the board, Itachi shifted and leaned against the wall, watching her. She noticed this and let the marker slip, falling to the floor,

"Oops, my bad," she giggled as she leaned down to grab it, her body facing Itachi, her shirt exposing her cleavage. She grabbed for the marker and slowly stood back up, smirking to herself when Itachi refused to meet her gaze. Once she was done with the formula she popped the cap back on the marker. "Done." She grinned as she headed for her seat next to Sasuke.

"Good job," Itachi praised after checking Sakura's work. He gave a small lecture about the formula and then proceeded with having a different student work on the next one. Sasuke noted that aside from having Sakura cuddle next to him, she also seemed to lick her pencil or pen provocatively whenever she caught sight of Itachi looking at them.

**xxxxx**

After biology Sasuke waved goodbye to Sakura and Itachi, who were talking to each other, and headed for his conjoined P.E. class with Guy. After changing into his gym clothes he headed for the gymnasium with the rest of the students who ranged from first years to third years.

"Alright everyone," Guy began in his booming voice, "today we'll be going over the obstacle course to prepare you for the test tomorrow. First off! The free fall drop! Can anyone tell me why I've decided to teach you the free fall drop?"

"So that if we ever fall from a certain height we'll know how to land in a way that prevents a lot of damage to our bodies!" Ino shouted from the middle of the large group of students.

"That's %100 right Yamanaka!" Guy beamed. "So who would like to be the first one to perform the free fall drop?"

Sasuke stood up as a boy named Lee threw his hand in the air. "I want to do the fall," Sasuke said firmly.

"Oh-ho Sasuke! Such determination and willingness! And from how high would you like to drop?" Guy asked, his praises towards Sasuke angering Lee who was normally his favorite student.

"Four stories," Sasuke answered. _'If I can fall down three stories and be fine then I want to practice falling down four stories.'_

The class gasped a little as Guy smiled overjoyed, "now that's using your youth! Everyone here should use Sasuke as an example!" The class headed to the deck that had been set up for the jumps and rope climbing activities. It was perfectly safe because there were large cushiony air-mats surrounding the whole thing.

He climbed to the fourth plank, which represented four stories. As he neared the edge of it he looked towards Guy for the signal to jump. Guy grinned and nodded in encouragement. With a quick intake of breath Sasuke jumped off the platform and rolled himself in the air. As he landed he propelled himself forward and rolled across the ground like he had done when he fell off his roof. This time however, he finished the roll gracefully on his feet, the students clapping at his performance.

**xxxxx**

The rest of the hour went the same way, with Sasuke being the first to try out everything, which led to greater aggravation from Lee because of all the attention he was getting from Guy.

**xxxxx**

After P.E. was over Sasuke had burned off all his cereal and was grateful he had lunch to look forward to. He went through the lunch line, getting a beef sandwich and juice, and headed for the tables outside. He sat alone as usual, he preferred his own company, and waited for whatever group of people that would notice him and flock to his side to annoy him till no end.

Today it was Naruto's group, much to his relief, he didn't want Sakura and the girls hanging all over him. He ate in silence, chuckling to himself as he watched Kiba and Naruto spit-balling one another as Shikamaru napped and Chōji ate both his and Shikamaru's lunch. His attention was drawn away from Naruto and Kiba when he noticed the girls merging with his group, despite the fact that Naruto's group was already occupying most of the table.

"So why aren't you sitting with your creepy brother?" Sakura, who was now sitting next to Sasuke, asked Temari.

"Stop calling him 'creepy' and I tried sitting next to him but he told me to go away," Temari sighed.

Sasuke looked towards where she was staring and saw Gaara sitting by himself as Sakura continued, "but even Kankurō isn't with him."

"He didn't want him near him either," Temari answered.

Just then Ino leaned in, "guys, don't look now but Sai's walking over here!" Sasuke nearly spit out his juice.

He turned his head and was greeted by Sai's bare stomach. _'Why do you wear belly shirts? Why are you standing so close?' _Sasuke pondered frantically.

"Hello Sasuke, I've come to have lunch with you and your… friends," Sai smiled. Sasuke glared at Sai then turned to Naruto for help. Naruto just shrugged, he didn't know what to do. Sasuke sighed and turned to Sakura next, but Sakura was drooling over Sai with the other girls.

Suddenly an idea popped into Sasuke's head. He stood up, leaving his now empty tray, and walked away from the table. Sai followed him as he made his way over to Gaara. Casually, and not making eye-contact, he sat down next to Gaara. Gaara looked at him quizzically before noticing Sai's presence. Sai smiled at Gaara and Gaara stood up quickly.

"What do you want?" Gaara drawled, his normal glare plastered on his face.

Sai sensed the massive amount of evil, rage, and hatred that seemed to pour out of Gaara's skin. "Nothing at all," he said before turning around and leaving hurriedly. Gaara sat back down and stared at Sasuke.

Still avoiding eye contacted Sasuke said, "I know you didn't do that for me but thanks anyway." Before Gaara could respond the bell that ended lunch rang and Sasuke was already standing and heading for his homeroom class.

**xxxxx**

Naruto and Sasuke had homeroom together with Haku. They sat next to each other and began talking about the events at lunch. "Was that that kid I fought on Saturaday?" Naruto asked shocked. "I didn't know he went here!"

"Today's his first day," Sasuke answered, "and why are you asking me if he's the one you fought, I wasn't there."

"I can't believe you sat next to him, he's so freakishly scary," Haku said.

"You're freakishly scary you cross dresser," Naruto joked, lightly punching Haku in the shoulder.

"Don't diss my clothing preferences just because you thought I was a girl a few years ago," Haku argued.

"And asked him out," Sasuke added laughing.

"If memory serves me right you even told me I was prettier then Sakura," Haku giggled.

"The two of you need to shut up," Naruto mumbled embarrassed. Haku and Sasuke laughed at Naruto's dismay as Kakashi walked into the room, twenty minutes into their free hour.

"Don't you have work you could be doing?" Kakashi asked.

"Do you really think I have work?" Sasuke snorted.

"I actually wanted you to sign my slip so I could leave for the hour, not that I can get much done now…" Haku said, mumbling the end, he'd been hoping he could use his senior privilege's to escape school for a little.

"Don't wanna," Naruto said.

Kakashi walked over to them and signed Haku's pass. Haku smiled triumphantly and left the room with a wave. "Alright Naruto, work time." Kakashi said.

"How about I'll start doing my work when you start showing up to class on time," Naruto bargained.

Kakashi smiled, "do your work or I'm giving you detention," he said happily as he walked to his desk. "Damn," he muttered. "I forgot it at home…"

With Naruto now currently unavailable and Haku gone, Sasuke spent the rest of his class sleeping. When homeroom was over he headed for his 6th hour class.

"Itachi, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked when he walked into his reading/writing classroom.

"Jiraiya had to leave early so I'm substituting for him too," Itachi said.

Sasuke smirked as he headed for his seat, "have fun with that."

Itachi gave Sasuke a puzzled look, _'what was that about?'_ The bell sounded signaling the start of class. "Okay everyone, I'm substituting for Jiraiya. He wishes for me to read chapter 23 aloud to you and then we'll have a group discussion. Here goes," Itachi picked up the book and opened it, beginning to read, "Mike took off his shirt, 'are you ready for me Ike?' Ike batted her long eyelashes, 'oh Mike, t-take me,' she moaned."

Itachi slammed the book shut. "Free hour," he grumbled as he packed his bags and left the classroom without another glance, hearing Sasuke's laughter behind him.

**xxxxx**

**AN: I've finally been motivated to write and put this chapter up! W00T! I hope you enjoy it, I'm still trying to get into the right feel of writing this story... Oh and I thank my cuz for giving the idea of using Mike and Ike from the candy for the characters of Jiraiya's smut book that he's making his class read. **


	7. Sakura's Disillusion

**Warnings: foul language. And sorry if characters are ooc!**

**Pairings: slight SasuSaku and ItaSaku and (imaginary) SasuSai**

**AN: thoughts in _italics _and this chapter takes place on Monday _again_ only from Sakura's point of view. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's copyrighted **

**Chapter 7: Sakura's Disillusion**

**xxxxx**

Sunday proved to be as dull for Sakura as it was for Sasuke. After waking up around ten, she spent her day finishing _Lord of the Flies, _cleaning her room, and then browsing through her television for something… anything… to watch, but to no avail. She tried calling Ino, but she was busy working at her family's flower shop. She tried calling Hinata, but she was taking care of family matters. Tenten had already gone out shopping, Temari was still trying to play family with Gaara, and Karin wanted one more day of rest from her cold.

All and all, she really regretted giving Sasuke the day off.

**xxxxx**

As Monday rolled around Sakura had already made up her mind to hang out with Sasuke after school. She called Ino over to pick her up in the morning, claiming her car was low on gas and she didn't have the money to fill it up at the time. This way, she'd have an excuse to get a ride from Sasuke later.

**xxxxx**

"I hope you'll be able to find a ride home, I have to work right after school so I can't drop you back off," Ino said as Sakura got into her car.

"I'm already planning on asking Sasuke to drive me home," Sakura answered with a smile.

Ino ignored her and they drove to the school without conversation, listening to the radio play light pop music. They parked in the high school parking lot and met with their friends outside the building.

"How was your shopping trip?" Sakura asked Tenten when they had caught up with their friends.

"It was great! I bought a set of shuriken!" Tenten grinned. The girls never figured out why, but Tenten had always loved collecting weapons, she even knew how to use a good amount of them.

"And you Hinata? How was your Sunday?" Sakura asked, looking over to Hinata.

Hinata blushed, "Oh, um, it was alright. Neji and I had to help my father entertain some relatives who are visiting."

Sakura was about to reply but was interrupted by Temari, "you know, I'm surprised by you Sakura."

"Oh, why's that?" Sakura asked as she spun around to face Temari.

"I'm just saying that if I was dating Sasuke I wouldn't let Karin near him, ever," Temari said with a sly smile.

"What are you even talking about?" Sakura asked. Temari casually pointed to Karin, Sasuke, and Naruto several yards away. "When did she get over there?" Sakura scowled. She watched as Karin climbed off Sasuke's back and ran in front of him. Frustrated, Sakura left her friends and headed for Sasuke.

When she was a little closer she called out to him saying, "Sasu…ke!" before sprinting the rest of the way over to him. "Didn't you hear the morning bell ring? We've got to hurry if you plan on walking me to class!" she cooed as she gripped his hand and led him to the school before turning her head and saying, "bye Naruto!" She smirked a little when she looked at Karin, "Karin!" she added as way of goodbye.

She inwardly cheered at how angry Karin seemed over Sakura's new prize.

Once Sasuke and Sakura entered the school Sasuke shook off Sakura's arm. "Well that wasn't very boyfriend like," she frowned, she was going to have to teach Sasuke the proper way to treat her.

Sasuke sighed, "Sakura, I'd love to walk you to your class but I'm running late as it is and I still have to get to my locker."

'_At least he has a decent reason… I guess…'_ She leaned forward and kissed him quickly before heading down a different hallway to her locker.

**xxxxx**

Her schedule goes like this:

1st hour: Reading/Writing – Jiraiya (?)

2nd hour: World History – Yamato Tenzō

3rd hour: Biology – Kisame Hoshigaki

4th hour: Chemistry – Kisame Hoshigaki

LUNCH

5th hour: T.A. – Front Office

6th hour: Math II – Baki (?)

7th hour: P.E. – Might Guy

**xxxxx**

Sakura dropped some of her books off at her locker but kept the ones she would need for her first four classes. As she entered Jiraiya's classroom she noticed Tsunade, one of the school's principals, standing at the front of the class.

"Hello Tsunade-sensei," she said walking up to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I have to stand in while Jiraiya teaches, just a mandatory checkup," Tsunade sighed, clearly not wanting to be there, probably because of all the looks Jiraiya kept giving her. Sakura gave her an encouraging smile before taking her seat at the front of the class as the bell rang.

Jiraiya shuffled from behind his desk to the front of the class, "first we're going to be taking a pop quiz on the _Lord of the Flies_ chapters I asked you to read over the weekend." He said as he handed out some papers and the students groaned but started their quiz. After they were finished the class had a discussion over the chapters. "Now then," Jiraiya started once the discussion was done, "who here read chapter 23 of my newly published book _Mike&Ike Tactics_?" He looked around the room eagerly as Tsunade gave him a puzzled look. "You've got to be kidding me! None of you read it?" Jiraiya complained in shock.

Sakura raised her hand, "Jiraiya-sensei, you didn't require us to read it, remember?"

"Well I know that Sakura, but this is good literature! That and the fact that chapter 23 is the only chapter I'm allowed to ask you to read. Well I suppose if you didn't read it I'm just gonna have to read it for you." He went back to his desk and grabbed his _Mike&Ike Tactics _book. He grinned widely and started blushing as he flipped through the pages before coming across the one he wanted. "Ahem," he started, clearing his throat, all of a sudden becoming serious. "Mike took his shirt off…" his voice grew deeper as he said, "'are you ready for me Ike?' Ike batted her long eyelashes, 'oh M-Mike, take me.. please…" Jiraiya said softening his voice somewhat as he started to play the parts.

The class groaned in unison as Tsunade walked over to Jiraiya. She gave him a quick glare before she grabbed the book out of his hand, and then proceeded to hit him upside the head with it. "Why the hell would you think it was okay to read this filth, and to a class of freshmen no less?" She hollered as she stormed out of the classroom, the book still in her hand.

Jiraiya turned to the class, "I bet ya she's gonna read it herself," he grinned as he chased after her, the bell signaling the end of class ringing in his wake.

**xxxxx**

In her World History class, Sakura sat on Sasuke's right, Ino sat behind Sakura, and Karin sat on Sasuke's left. While Yamto lectured about the first Great World War the girls passed notes to Sasuke, though he ignored Ino's and Karin's.

One note he got from Karin read, 'you really should date me instead of that prude' which Sasuke had to mentally laugh at.

A note that he received from Ino said, 'Sasuke, you know you can tlk to me about anything does Sakura have something on you?' which made Sasuke frown, he was going to have to be careful around Ino if he didn't want her to find out his secret, she seemed to catch on to things too quickly for his liking.

The first note he got from Sakura said, 'What r u doin after school?'

He replied with, 'probably going to the skatepark or something, y?'

To which she answered, 'we're going to hang out together'

He was about to give her some excuse to not hang out but Yamato had noticed them. "Do my lectures bore you that much Uchiha?" He asked, his face sinking as his eyes widened and bored into Sasuke's, not searching but forcing out an answer.

"Please, if they bored me you'd think I wouldn't have an A in this class," Sasuke said, earning a glare from Yamato. Yamato snorted at Sasuke's answer before turning back to his lecture.

**xxxxx**

Upon arrival to her Biology course, Sakura was taken away by the power that Itachi held over her third hour class. She was in complete awe by how professional he seemed. She wanted to show him how smart she was, and she wanted a reason to get closer to him too, so when he asked for a volunteer she was quick to raise her hand, anything to get his attention.

While she approached the white board she felt a strange tension growing between them. He stared into her eyes, wondering what she would do. Had the tension really been growing or had it been there from the start? As she started to write she felt the tension slowly melt away and noticed Itachi relax against the wall, staring at her inquisitively. Was he looking at her like that because he was impressed by how easily she was solving the problem on the board or was he interested in her and was staring at her out of desire?

She had to do something to figure out what he was interested in, if she knew what he felt about her she'd be able to use it to her advantage, but she was almost done solving the problem. As soon as the problem was solved she'd have to sit back down and wait for another opportunity to arrive. Thinking off the top of her head she dropped the marker and bent down to get it, "oops, my bad," she giggled as she made sure Itachi got a good shot of her cleavage.

As she grabbed the marker she looked at Itachi and found his eyes exactly where she wanted them. He realized she was looking at him and their eyes met for a second before he turned his head and avoided her gaze, repressing a light blush from forming on his cheeks.

Proud of her new discovery, Sakura finished the problem quickly and rushed back to Sasuke's side, playing the 'unavailable' card by cuddling into his arm, and to further play her game she teased Itachi by licking her pen or pencil whenever he looked at her until the end of class.

**xxxxx**

As the students began heading for their 4th hour classes Sakura left Sasuke's side to go talk to Itachi, giving Sasuke a wave as he left the room. "So what was the deal with looking at me all hour?" she asked as she walked up to Itachi.

"I was probably scanning the room to see if anyone had questions while working on the assignment," Itachi answered matter-of-factly, never looking away from the papers he was organizing.

"Do you really think I needed help after how well I did that problem on the board? And you know as well as I do that Sasuke doesn't need help in this class either," Sakura smirked, she had Itachi trapped for sure, he'd have to admit he liked her.

"Sakura, you're going to be late for your next class if you don't hurry," Itachi said, changing the subject, he had indeed been looking at her and couldn't come up with a good excuse in such a short amount of time outside of just being curious.

"Not at all Tachi-kun," Sakura smiled seductively as she leaned closer to Itachi, "I have chemistry next hour, in this classroom."

Itachi took a calming breath and placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder, lightly pushing her away as students began flooding into the classroom. "You should take your seat now," he said as he turned away from her. He was starting to wish he had never agreed to sub for Kisame as Sakura continued doing small suggestive things throughout the class, barely noticed by her classmates since the majority of them were intent on staring at him the whole hour.

**xxxxx**

Itachi was quick to escape the classroom, and Sakura, once the bell signaling the start of lunch sounded. Sakura sighed but wasn't hurt by his sudden departure, she was being a little strong in her chase today but at least she was starting to see where Itachi's thoughts were… she hoped. She went to her locker, quick to rid herself of her books, and then headed for the Cafeteria to grab something to eat.

After grabbing a ham sandwich and some milk she wondered outside and found her friends sitting under the shade of a tree. "Hope you don't mind but I'm going to go sit with my boyfriend," she said, pointing towards Sasuke's table, once she had made her way over to them.

"You can't be serious, there's barely any room at his table," Tenten complained. Sakura shrugged and left for Sasuke, quickly being followed by her friends who wanted to sit near him too or didn't want to be left out.

Sakura noticed the lack of space at the table as she sat down in between Naruto and Sasuke. "So why aren't you sitting with your creepy brother?" she asked Temari.

Temari scoffed at Sakura's question, "stop calling him 'creepy' and I tried sitting next to him but he told me to go away."

Sakura continued, trying to guilt trip Temari into leaving so that the table could have at least a little more room, "but even Kankurō isn't with him."

"He didn't want him near him either," Temari answered, a sad expression forming on her face as she slowly nibbled on some fries.

Sakura was starting to feel sorry for Temari and decided not to push the subject further. She heard Ino whisper something to her about Sai walking over and then noticed Sasuke choke on his juice for a second as he caught wind of what she said as well.

She turned to look at Sai approaching and noticed that he was already at the table standing unusually close behind Sasuke, Sasuke's turned head just inches from Sai's bare stomach. As Sakura stared at the site in front of her she never noticed the pleading look Sasuke gave her because she was trying frantically not to imagine Sasuke running his tongue against Sai's torso.

Before she could snap out of her short fantasy Sasuke started to stand. She looked at him in confusion as he made his way towards Temari's brother, Sai following him close behind like a lost puppy.

She was prepared to follow him over to Gaara's table too but Naruto grabbed her arm as she started to stand up. He gently pushed her back onto the bench and mumbled, "It's best if you don't follow him, it's dangerous over there," while giving her a concerned look.

She began to protest that Sasuke would protect her from anything but was cut off when the bell started ringing. He would have protected her though, right?

**xxxxx**

As the rest of her peers headed for their fifth hour classes, Sakura, being a teacher's assistant, headed for the office. "Hello Sakura, how was your lunch?" Kotestu, a man who worked in the high school office, chimed as she walked into the room.

"Same as always," Sakura smiled, "so what work do you have for me today?"

"I just need you to make some copies and then run them down to Kisame's classroom for the substitute. Feel free to help him with anything, todays been pretty boring so there isn't much to do," he sighed as he leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Sure thing boss," Sakura said, she took the piles of paper and headed for the copy room. After making the correct amount of copies, with a smile, she headed for Kisame's classroom.

**xxxxx**

"Why hello Itachi," she said as she tapped lightly on the door and then entered the empty classroom, "where's your class?"

"Kisame doesn't have class anymore because he teaches at the college too. I'm just waiting for next hour because I offered to sub for someone else before I head home," Itachi answered, looking up at her from his desk. "Why aren't you in class?"

"I'm a T.A. I have your copies by the way," Sakura said, walking further into the room and handing the papers to Itachi. "The office told me that I can help you…," she continued, walking around the desk to stand next to Itachi before sitting in front of him on the desk itself, "…with whatever you want." She leaned forward and slung her arms around Itachi's neck. "What is it you want, Tachi-kun?" She asked, her lips close to his.

Itachi wrapped his arms around Sakura, pulling her into his chest. "You really want to know?" He asked, whispering into her ear.

"Y-yes!" She said startled by Itachi's sudden closeness.

"I want…" he began, his lips brushing her ear, his warm breath tickling it causing her body to tingle, "…to know why my younger brother's girlfriend keeps hitting on me." He pulled back to stare at her. She gaped at him, lost in words, not knowing what to say. "I actually don't need anything so you can head back to the office now," he smiled and stood from his seat at Kisame's desk, making his way to the back room with the copies in his hand.

Sakura continued to sit on the desk in stunned silence. _'It doesn't mean anything! If anything he was only rejecting me because he has morals! I am Sasuke's girlfriend of course.'_ She was so embarrassed it was hard to even stand. She felt like she was going to throw up. She thought she had him playing in her hand but he turned the game on her. _'Damnit!'_ she mentally screamed at herself, _'he probably thinks I'm a slut or something!' _She had managed to climb off the desk but couldn't stand without supporting herself against the desk. _'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' _

She gasped when she felt a hand on her back. She turned her head to see Itachi kneeling by her side, looking at her with concern. _'When did I crouch to the floor?' _she asked herself as she looked at Itachi. He brought his hand to her face and rubbed his thumb under her eye, collecting fresh tears off her skin. _'When did I start crying?'_

"Sakura, there's no reason to cry," Itachi said calmly as he rubbed her back. He leaned over to her and kissed her lightly on the side of her head, "It's alright, just take a deep breath." She did and he helped her stand back up. "Do you need me to walk you back to the office?" he asked as he finished drying off her tears. She shook her head and he gave her a small smile before heading back to the back room.

Sakura took another deep breath, collecting herself, and then left the room, heading to the girls bathroom instead of the office.

**xxxxx**

During the passing time between 5th hour and 6th hour Sakura went to her locker to grab her Math II text book. During the 1st Semester of the school year the teachers had noticed how much she excelled at math and moved her out of the freshman math class and into the junior math class. Of course, she kept this information from Sasuke since she knew he was already angry that she was so good in their science and health classes.

Throughout sixth hour, and later seventh hour, Sakura tried to think up different ways to act around Itachi. What should she say? What should she do? It was easy enough to be distracted during math because she did the problems correctly even when she wasn't paying attention, but she lost track of what she was doing so many times during her gym class that Guy made her redo different things over and over saying, "use your youth to the max! You must keep trying until you get it 110% right!" By the time 7th hour was over Sakura had worked up a pretty decent, and disgusting, sweat.

She would've taken a shower before she left the locker room but she had a feeling that Sasuke was going to leave the school as fast as he could, hoping to avoid her. So she changed as fast as she could, cursing Guy for keeping them late just because they were his last class, and raced out of the school and to where she saw Naruto park his motorcycle. She reached them right as Sasuke was about to take off.

"Did you forget what we talked about during 2nd hour?" She asked, still out of breath from P.E.

Sasuke gave her an exasperated look, but played along for his secrets sake, "Oh yeah, sorry, a lot on my mind, climb on." She smirked at him and got on his bike. He nodded to Naruto and pulled out of the parking lot. Once they hit a nearby stop light he asked, "so where am I taking you?"

"Your house, I need a shower," Sakura answered. If it hadn't been for the light changing green he would've spun around to see if she had been joking or not. They sped towards his house and he showed her to the bathroom he shared with Itachi. He grabbed her a towel and left her to her business while he went into his room for a short after school nap.

**xxxxx**

While Sakura washed her hair she heard someone walk into the bathroom, _'Maybe Sasuke forgot something?' _she wondered, until she heard the someone start relieving themselves in the toilet. _'What the hell? Can't whoever that is hear me taking an obvious shower in here?' _she asked herself. She was getting ready to ask them what their problem was, starting with a "who th-" before slipping on a forgotten bar of soap and falling down.

"You okay in there otouto?" She heard a voice ask but was to dizzy to respond. "otouto?" the voice asked again, taking a look into the bathtubs contents.

"Itachi?" Sakura wondered, looking up and seeing a very red Itachi looking back at her.

"Sa-Sakura?" Itachi stuttered. She let out a short scream of shock as he spun around and closed the bathroom curtain.

"What the hell was that Itachi?" Madara asked as he came running up the stairs.

Itachi ignored his question and walked out of the bathroom saying, "don't go in there." He opened Sasuke's bedroom door and walked over to him, ripping his headphones out of his ears.

"What?" Sasuke asked, taken aback by Itachi's sudden forcefulness.

"Go see what's wrong with Sakura," Itachi ordered.

He and Sasuke walked back to the bathroom, as Sasuke walked inside Itachi started to leave. "Where are you going?" Sasuke asked.

"Madara and I are going to go drinking," Itachi said as he grabbed Madara by the wrist and started to drag him away. "It's a school night so I don't want guests here past seven," he called over his shoulder.

Sasuke stared after him for a few seconds before walking to the bathtub. "Are you alright Sakura?"

"I could use some aspirin to be honest," she answered.

"Wanna explain what happened?" Sasuke asked.

"I slipped on some soap and hit my head, Itachi looked inside to see if you were alright but saw me instead," Sakura mumbled.

"You're such a klutz," Sasuke joked, "I'll go get you that aspirin," he added as he left the bathroom.

Sakura stood back up to finish taking her shower. _'Itachi… the first boy to see me naked… did you like what you saw?'_

**xxxxx**

**AN: So because there was so little Sakura in the last chapter I wanted everyone to see the day from her p.o.v. I hope you enjoyed it X3**


	8. The Best Plan

**Warnings: foul language. And sorry if characters are ooc!**

**Pairings: remember... nothing's set in stone**

**AN: thoughts in _italics_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's copyrighted **

**Chapter 8: The Best Plan **

**xxxxx**

After Sakura had dried herself off, gotten dressed, and had taken the aspirin Sasuke brought her, she and Sasuke sat awkwardly in his bedroom. "So umm, you wanna talk about it?" Sasuke asked, not knowing why Sakura was being so unusually quiet but damn sure he didn't want her leaving pissed off at him or something. He really didn't like being blackmailed. She shook her head and continued staring at her hands folded in her lap. "You know the entire reason for you being here left like ten minutes ago, want me to take you home?" Sasuke asked bitterly, he was growing annoyed, the least she could do was talk about whatever was bugging her when he went out of his way to ask.

"Sure, that's fine, you can take me home," Sakura answered and slowly stood up and headed towards the garage. He was right, there really wasn't any reason for her to be there.

Sasuke mentally shrugged, _'whatever, if she wants to be that way then so be it.'_

**xxxxx**

A few minutes later and they were at her house. Sasuke hesitated as Sakura descended from his bike. "Are you sure you don't want to talk?" He asked.

"Sasuke, I'm fine," Sakura smiled, before skipping to her front door and entering her house. A melancholic expression overtaking her once she was behind closed doors. She leaned on the door and continued to stare off into space, what was she going to do now?

Sasuke snorted in disbelief but left nonetheless. Bored and with nothing to do he headed for the skate park where he found Naruto. "Where are the others?" He asked.

"I dunno, busy and stuff," Naruto replied. He was laying on a bench again.

"Not in the mood to skate?" Sasuke asked.

"Naw I'm just taking a break," Naruto grinned.

"Wanna do me a favor?" Sasuke asked as he leaned against the back of the bench.

Naruto sat up and looked at him, "oh, like what?" he questioned, worried, Sasuke didn't normally ask for favors.

"Something happened between Sakura and Itachi after school today, anyway, Itachi got so worked up about it he took Madara out drinking," Sasuke explained.

"Pfft! Really? That's kinda hilarious! Madara and Itachi drinking together! Ha!" Naruto laughed. Sasuke chuckled lightly finding the odd predicament humorous as well. "Let me guess, you want me to drive them home?"

"Yeah, I'll bring you there on my bike and then you can drive Itachi's car back."

**xxxxx**

For a few hours Naruto and Sasuke took turns skating on Naruto's board. Once Sasuke was sure Itachi would be ready to leave the bar, he called him up to see which one he was at, and then he and Naruto took off for their destination. Sure enough, when they arrived at the bar, they watched Itachi, Madara, and Deidara stumble out of the front door. "Looks like they have a tagalong," Naruto joked as he got off Sasuke's bike, and walked over to the drunken men as Sasuke sped back home.

"Hollo Naruto, aren't you a bit young to be here?" Itachi asked as Naruto got closer to them.

"I'm your designated driver for the evening Itachi, may I have your car keys please?" Naruto asked, reaching out his hand.

"No Naruto, that's fine, I'm still good to go," Itachi answered lightly.

Naruto knew Itachi wasn't going to give his keys up easily, but he didn't want to spend all night convincing Itachi that he should drive, so he pulled out his trump card, "Please, Itachi-nii?"

Itachi stared at Naruto's puppy dog eyes before rolling his own, "fine," he said as he handed his keys to Naruto, "but I get…"

"SHOTGUN!" Deidara cheered as he jumped onto the front passanger seat. Itachi sneered as he and Madara took the back seat and Naruto hopped in the front.

"Are you coming with us Deidara? Or am I dropping you off somewhere?"

"You really think I'd miss a chance to see Sasu-chan?" Deidara smiled brightly.

"Ha, don't let him catch you saying that," Naruto laughed as they headed for the Uchiha Manor.

**xxxxx**

Once Naruto had successfully parked Itachi's car in the garage, the four of them walked inside and headed for the illuminated family room, where Sasuke sat in a thick armchair waiting for them. "Sasu-chaaaaan!" Deidara cooed as he skipped towards Sasuke and hugged onto him.

"Get off of him," Itachi barked, sending Deidara across the room to sit on a couch before Sasuke could throw him off.

"Wow Itachi, weird seeing you so emotional, you're normally more contained then this," Sasuke smirked.

"It's that damn girlfriend of yours!" Itachi complained.

"What'd she do?" Naruto asked while Sasuke glared at Itachi, hoping that his drunken state wouldn't urge him to say more.

"She was all over me today in class, and then, she took a shower here, and I… I looked at her…" Itachi admitted to Naruto.

Naruto watched Sasuke sigh in annoyance. "Was that the thing you said happened between them?" Sasuke nodded his head. "Sasuke, why are you so uncaring about Itachi watching your girlfriend shower and her hitting on him?" Naruto asked.

"Because she's just blackmailing him to get to me," Itachi groaned as he leaned forward in his seat and rested his head in his hands.

"Blackmailing? What's she got on you?" Naruto asked Sasuke exasperated.

"Someone's actually blackmailing you?" Madara added in disbelief.

"Oh! A secret? What is it?" Deidara asked excited.

"Yes otouto, you've yet to tell me what it is as well," Itachi added, putting more fuel on the fire.

"Enough!" Sasuke yelled as he stood out of his chair, "If I had wanted any of you to know, don't you think I would have told you!"

"Okay, okay, calm down Sasuke, If you don't want to tell us you don't have to," Naruto chuckled as he walked up to Sasuke and pat him on the back.

"Good," Sasuke snorted, shrugging Naruto's hand off, before sitting back down.

"This doesn't help me with my situation though," Itachi growled.

"Well why don't you give her what she wants?" Deidara asked. The group stared at him. _'Give her what she wants?' _All of a sudden a door of possibilities seemed to open for Sasuke, Itachi, and even Naruto."

"If I give her what she wants…" Itachi started.

"Then she won't have to keep blackmailing me because she'd have already attained her goal…" Sasuke finished.

Itachi turned to Naruto, "and if I'm a crummy boyfriend and she decides she doesn't want me anymore…"

Naruto grinned slyly, "then I can be there to steal her away!"

This was going to be a great plan, with this everyone could win. Sasuke would be left alone, Itachi could eventually be left alone, Sakura will see how much better Naruto was then both Sasuke and Itachi, and Naruto would get his girl. They headed off to bed a few hours after that, with Naruto in a spare room and Deidara on the couch. If only they'd known what Sakura had been plotting.

**xxxxx**

Tuesday

Everyone had a really hard time waking up, especially Itachi and Deidara who were suffering from hangovers. After getting changed and eating breakfast, they carpooled with Itachi to school. While walking through the high school section's doors they found Sakura talking to Ino and Hinata. "Well, here goes nothing," Sasuke whispered to Naruto before heading over to Sakura.

"Morning," he said when he reached her.

"Oh, hey," she replied before waving to her friends and walking away.

"What was that all about?" Naruto asked when Sasuke had rejoined him in walking down the hall.

"I think I was just brushed off," Sasuke said, puzzled over Sakura's reaction.

**xxxxx**

In his world history class, Sasuke found it strange that Sakura wasn't writing notes to him, even when he tossed her the note he had written that had the message he had wanted to tell her that morning on it. He was even more puzzled when she didn't talk to him in biology or sit next to him during lunch, though he was willing to rule lunch out because he had sat next to Gaara again to keep Sai away.

**xxxxx**

After school, he found Itachi, and told him about Sakura's behavior before heading towards the skate park with Naruto and his friends. Confused by Sakura's behavior, but still wanting to go through with the plan, Itachi started heading towards the high school's parking lot, spotting Sakura walking with Ino to Ino's car. "Sakura!" he called out to her, waving her over to him when she looked his way.

"Yes senpai?" she asked him once she had walked over.

"Oh? No 'Tachi-kun' today?" He teased her lightly.

Sakura turned around and started heading back to Ino's car saying, "okay, I'm going home."

Itachi grabbed her elbow, "I'm sorry. Look, about yesterday, I wanted to talk to you about it…"

"Why, what do you want to say?" Sakura asked, still facing Ino's car but not pulling away.

"C'mon, let me take you to eat, we can discuss this over a nice meal," Itachi said with the kindest voice he could muster.

Sakura hesitated, she saw Ino waving for her to hurry up. "Okay, let's go then," she said, waving to Ino to let her know she wouldn't be joining her. Itachi and Sakura began walking back to the college parking lot to get in his car. "I dunno if Sasuke's gonna be happy that I'm going out to eat with you," Sakura said when she had sat in her seat.

"Oh don't worry, I got his permission first, and I know you know that already," Itachi chuckled as he drove towards a small restaurant for them to eat at.

**xxxxx**

At the restaurant, Itachi talked casually about his day at school, trying to make some form of conversation with a very unwilling Sakura, who was growing more and more annoyed. "Okay, cut the crap Itachi, just get to the reason why I'm eating with you," she finally barked after fifteen minutes of Itachi's small talking.

Itachi paused, taken aback a little, then he tried his best to refrain from laughing at how blunt Sakura was being. "First off," he began, "this may not mean much to you, but, I'd like to say that I am truly sorry for our little incident yesterday." He paused to see if Sakura would respond, and when she didn't he continued. "Now for the point… I know that you're blackmailing Sasuke…"

"Oh well in that case, Sasuke's secret is…" Sakura started before being cut off by Itachi.

"I know what his secret is… But I want to hear it from him, not from you," Itachi said. Sakura couldn't think of anything to say back to him, she was damn sure that she'd make sure the rest of the school would know about Sasuke's secret tomorrow though. He was not going to get away with humiliating her like this. "Before you get angry at Sasuke, I just wanted to say that I know you're blackmailing him to get closer to me because you want to date me."

Sakura's jaw dropped. _How much had Sasuke told him?_

"And quite honestly," Itachi continued, "I'm really flattered, and, because of all the effort you're putting into this, I'm willing to try having a relationship with you."

_What?_ Sakura stared at him. _Did he just say he wants to date me?_ "I… really?" Sakura asked flabbergasted.

Itachi couldn't hold back and chuckled a little, "yes, really," he smiled.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, and Chōji had decided to join Shikamaru, who was lying on the half pipes flat again. "It's so… hot," Naruto moaned as he unzipped his black and orange hoodie.

"Tell me about it," Kiba agreed.

The five of them continued lying down and complaining for a few more minutes, until nearby voices caught their attention. "Hello Sasuke," an overly familiar voice said as the voices got closer.

"Better watch out, your boyfriend's here," Naruto whispered, trying to hold back from laughing.

"What do you want Sai?" Sasuke asked annoyed, though he wasn't sure if it was more because of him, or Naruto.

"I just thought I'd come say 'hi' now that you can hide behind that spook or your brother," Sai anwered with a grin.

"Believe me, I don't want any of your 'hello's,'" Sasuke shot back at him, standing up in case they tried to fight.

The leader of Sai's little group, Neji, started laughing, "I see you've caught on," he said. "You might be a part timer for my little friends here because of your pretty-boy looks, but you will be punished for what your brother did to Sai.

By this point Naruto and Kiba had stood up as well. "Are you sure it is alright to fight them?" Neji's friend Lee asked. Lee normally had good morals but it wasn't unknown for him to get into fights every now and then.

"Just think of it as training," Neji reassured.

"What did your brother do to him," Kiba asked confused by this sudden attack they were encountering.

"Drop-kicked his ass," Sasuke smirked.

"Well Sasuke, if you haven't figured it out, you'll be fighting me," Sai smiled.

"I figured you were the kind of wuss who was too afraid to fight my brother, so no surprises here," Sasuke said snidely. Sai's frown sank and he lunged at Sasuke. His left leg ascended from the ground, heading towards Sasuke's head. Sasuke ducked easily but when he came back up to form his counter attack he was surprised to find ink pouring onto his face. "Argh!" He growled annoyed as he started to attempt wiping the ink off.

"Sasuke!" Naruto and Kiba yelled as they ran for him, only to be cut off by Neji and Lee. Neji smacked Naruto around a few times, pushing him away from. Lee kicked Kiba in the stomach, knocking him back a few feet.

Knowing full well that Naruto stood a better chance against Neji then Kiba did against Lee, Chōji ran up and punched Lee in the back, knocking the wind out of him, and sending him to his knees. "You do not fight fair," Lee complained, glaring at Chōji.

"Do you really think splashing ink in someone's face is fair?" Shikamaru, who had Sai in a full nelson, asked.

"All's fair in war…" Everyone turned to see Gaara standing a few feet away.

"You're right," Neji smirked. "Your name's Gaara right? I heard you lost a fight to Naruto, want to pay him back?" Neji grabbed hold of Naruto's arms and bent them into an awkward position behind his back, holding him in place. Gaara's face contorted into a sinister smile as he slowly inched his way closer to Naruto. With his hand clenched he proceeded to punch Naruto in the gut.

"My knife…" he started, punching Naruto again before continuing, "Where is it?" He punched Naruto again.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru gasped but kept his hold on Sai. If he let go, Sai would just continue trying to hurt Sasuke, who was still blinded by the ink. Kiba and Chōji ran over to them and yanked Neji and Gaara away from Naruto.

"That's enough Neji!" Lee said, "I do not want to be a part of such unfair fighting!"

Neji sneered but nodded his head for everyone to leave. Gaara stayed behind and glared at Naruto, "I want my knife back," he said, before turning and leaving too.

"Dammit! Why won't this shit come off!" Sasuke growled, frustrated, because no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the ink wouldn't move.

"You'll probably have to wash it off when you get home," Shikamaru advised.

"Ugh," Sasuke groaned, lying on the ground defeated. Naruto staggered over to him and dug out Sasuke's cell phone from his hoodie's pocket. "What are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

"Calling Itachi," Naruto said.

**xxxxx**

After Naruto had made his call, a few minutes passed and Itachi had pulled up to the park to pick them up. When they arrived at the Uchiha Manor, Itachi helped Sasuke find the bathroom and wash the ink off his face.

"Oh wow, you did a number to your eyes while you were trying to rub that ink off," Itachi exclaimed with slight shock after Sasuke's face was cleaned off.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as he turned to stare into the mirror.

"Your eyes are bleeding," Itachi said, and sure enough, the whites of Sasuke's eyes had completely turned red.

Sasuke blinked at his unusual reflection, and then a thought came to him, _'Madara.'_

**xxxxx**

**AN: Sorry about the wait -_- I'm really lazy and my mojo for this story got used up. I think it's back now though! Which is good :D I hope u enjoyed this chapter!**


	9. A Little Piece of Paper

**Warnings: foul language. And sorry if characters are ooc!**

**Pairings: Some ItaSaku**

**AN: thoughts in _italics _(there's a flashback scene in _italics _as well)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's copyrighted **

**Chapter 9: A Little Piece of Paper**

**xxxxx**

"Itachi," Sasuke began, "I don't think you should tell Madara about this."

"Hmm? Oh, okay," Itachi said absentmindedly.

After Itachi had picked them up at the skate park, he drove everyone home. None of the boys talked much, all rather disgruntled from their fight with the _popular _kids. Naruto was the last to be dropped off. He would've gone to the Uchiha Manor, but Iruka had come home that morning, so, he felt he should go see him, even if it meant getting an earful for fighting.

"Sasuke," Itachi hesitated as they started walking up stairs. "I think you should start sparing with me again…"

"What, why?" Sasuke asked confused.

"Well, it's just, you got your ass kicked, by Sai of all people," Itachi said softly.

"I did not get my ass kicked," Sasuke argued. "I was only down because he splashed ink in my face! He cheated! I won't let that happen again!"

"He cheated? Sasuke, you're starting to sound like a five year old, do you really think that if someone wants to hurt you they're going to play by the rules?" Itachi asked.

"I know! There are no rules! Dammit, just leave me alone!" Sasuke huffed as he walked to his bedroom and slammed his door once he was inside.

"Come on otouto, this is uncalled for! Why are you acting like this?" Itachi asked, growing annoyed. Ever since Sakura had started blackmailing Sasuke, everyone's tension span seemed to have shortened immensely.

_'I'm sorry nii-san'_ Sasuke thought, apologizing to Itachi mentally. He was on edge. First he was attacked by Sai and had ink thrown in his face, his eyes still burned. Then he found out from Itachi, on their way home, that Sakura nearly told him his secret, but, Itachi, being the _amazing _older brother that he was, didn't let Sakura tell him. And now… His eyes…

Sasuke stared at them in the mirror on his wall. They were so red, it was weird how the blood stayed in the shell of his eye, right in between the white part and the covering, not so much of a drip had come out, not yet anyway. He couldn't help but wonder if Madara meant this when he said 'red eyes'. Sasuke shivered, he didn't want to think about what Madara would do if he knew his eyes had turned red. Sasuke groaned and laid on his bed, stuffing his headphones into his ears to listen to music. Not in the mood to eat or face Itachi or Madara, he shut himself in his room the rest of the day, and then later, the night.

**xxxxx**

The next morning, Sasuke rushed downstairs, trying to hurry out the door so he wouldn't have to deal with Madara. Itachi caught him before he could though."Sasuke, come here quick." Begrudgingly, Sasuke complied. He walked to the kitchen to stand in front of Itachi, Madara sitting right across from him, his head buried in the newspaper. "Hmm, you're eyes are still kinda red," Itachi said after examining them. Madara looked up from his paper and made contact with Sasuke's eyes.

"Yeah, I know, I gotta get to school early, bye," Sasuke said, wasting no time to get out of the house and to the garage before Madara could chase after him. He climbed onto his bike, threw his helmet on, and raced off of the property like a bat out of hell.

**xxxxx**

"Well if it isn't Sissy Pants Uchiha," a random kid called towards Sasuke from down a hallway as he walked into the school.

"What was that punk?" Sasuke yelled, it was barely 7:30 and he was already taking someone's shit. He raced towards the kid who turned out to be a junior named Suigetsu Hōzuki.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll repeat myself," Suigetsu said as he dodged a punch from Sasuke, a toothy smirk on his face. "I called you Girly Little Sissy Pants Uchiha," he answered as he backhanded Sasuke across the face. "You fight like the girl, and by the way," he added, slamming Sasuke into the wall and whispering into his ear, "you've just been pimp-slapped." As he walked away he cheered, "have a nice day."

Sasuke growled in anger, secretly happy that there weren't a lot of students around to mock him. He headed to his locker to get rid of any unneeded books. When he was done he walked the halls for a while until he saw Sakura walking into the school with Ino. He ran up to her and pulled her off to the side.

"Oh hey," Sakura said as she was dragged away, "I wanted to give something to you." She dug into her purse and pulled out a small piece of folded loose leaf paper. Sasuke took the paper and gave Sakura a confused look. "When I initially found out that you told Itachi everything, I was so angry I was about willing to tell him your secret. And even though he stopped me because he'd rather hear it for you, I had decided to tell the entire school. But then, he asked me out. So, even though you ratted me out, it helped me in the end, so I've decided to forgive you." Sasuke's eyes widened. Was the paper in his hand what he thought it was? "And since I've obtained my goal, I see no reason to keep holding onto that." She smiled at him and walked away.

Sasuke couldn't help noticing Ino's confused expression as Sakura dragged her down the hall. Without wasting any more time he quickly unfolded the paper. In his hands was his journal entry. His secret was there, in his hands. Almost unchanged, the only difference was a tiny note Sakura had left him saying _I'm sorry__. _He mentally grinned, folded the paper back up, and shoved it into his pocket. Sakura hadn't told anybody. He walked to his first class, completely forgetting about his encounter with Suigetsu.

**xxxxx**

By lunchtime, his good mood had crumbled away. Every time he walked by Suigetsu, Neji, or Sai he was slammed into any nearby lockers or was roughly shoved aside. Even Naruto was getting a share of the bullying, which was made apparent during lunch, when he walked up to the table completely covered in slushy.

Now that Sakura was dating Itachi, the girls weren't sitting with the boys. Naruto and Sasuke weren't talking much, too disgruntled by the harassment they were getting. It was Shino who noticed them first. "Those guys who you said you fought yesterday are heading over here," he said monotonously. Everyone turned to look at Neji and his little gang heading over to them.

When they got closer, Sai smiled at Sasuke, "aren't you going to run to Gaara like the coward you are?"

Sasuke stood up. "You know what? Yes I am!" He announced, batting his trey of food off the table and onto the ground. "You want my lunch money too while you're at it?" He asked sarcastically.

Sai smirked, "no thank you, I already ate." Sasuke just glared at him before turning on his heel and walking to Gaara's table. Maybe he was a chicken, but he really didn't want to get ink thrown in his face again.

One of the guys who had followed Neji and Sai to the table, Kidomaru, cracked his knuckles, "shall we get started then?" he asked, a grin on his face, "I love this kind of game."

"You really think this is a game, punk?" Kiba growled as he jumped up from the bench and raced towards him. He lunged at him, throwing Kidomaru to the ground, straddling him, and then started punching him. Kidomaru held his arms in front of his face to block Kiba's onslaught. Then he wrapped one of his ankles around Kiba's leg, grabbed his arm, thrust up, and shoved Kiba off of him. This time he was the one hammering Kiba with punches to the face.

"Dammit Kiba!" Naruto yelled as he ran to the fight to pull Kidomaru off, Chōji, Shikamaru, and Shino close behind him.

"Not so fast Naruto!" Neji said, jumping in front of Naruto and jamming his fingers into some of Naruto's pressure points. Naruto fell to his knees, grabbing his side. "That mutt's gonna learn for attacking us," Neji sneered.

Shikamaru tried to get to Kiba, but was blocked by another one of Neji's friends named Jirōbō. Before Jirōbō could attack him, Chōji was there, kicking him in the gut. Now with Jirōbō fighting Chōji, Shikamaru continued to Kiba, only to have Sai stand in his way.

Shino made it to Kidomaru successfully and kicked him off. "Are you okay Kiba?" He asked, helping Kiba up.

"Yeah, but that guys going down!" Kiba yelled.

Shino placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder to calm him down, "there's no need for that, I kicked him hard."

Kiba looked at Kidomaru's unconscious form and snorted, "hmph, game over."

Naruto stood up and coughed, "lucky shot… Don't think I'll let you touch me again pervert!" Even in battle Naruto was always joking.

"It's called Bāguàzhǎng, and it's a real martial art that's studied in my family, but I guess a dumbass like you wouldn't know that!" Neji countered as he kicked at Naruto.

"Whatever," Naruto spat as he ducked under his kick, and then round-housed him. Neji jumped over Naruto's leg and blocked himself when Naruto, now standing, tried to punch him. Neji shoved Naruto's arm away and circled to the side of him before shoving him. Naruto moved but didn't fall. He turned and punched at Neji, only to have Neji grab and shove his arms away. They continued this pattern a few more times until Naruto caught Neji off guard with a kick to the side.

Sai was able to sucker punch Shikamaru but he got up quickly. He had fallen onto the bench and grabbed one of the treys as he stood back up. With each punch and kick that Sai threw at him, Shikamaru used the trey as a shield; it was his way of making sure he wasn't splashed in the face with any ink Sai might be carrying. Eventually Sai tried to kick him but he just blocked the kick again, then, noticing an opening, he shoved the trey, and Sai's leg, up and as Sai fell back a bit to catch his balance, Shikamaru hit him upside the head with the trey. Sai fell on to the ground and held his head once he sat up. "Are we done now?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sure," Sai drawled in pain, squinting one of his eyes, and clenching his jaw.

"Way to go Shikamaru!" Kiba cheered a few feet away.

Chōji and Jirōbō were holding each other's hands, trying to shove each other to the ground. Eventually Jirōbō let go and stepped back from Chōji, causing Chōji to stumble. Then he slammed his fist into Chōji's shoulder, sending him to the ground. He was about to punch Chōji in the back when his arm was kicked away. "You should never hit someone when they are down."

He looked to see Rock Lee standing by Chōji in a defensive pose. "This fight is done," Lee said as Chōji stood up.

"Thanks Lee, but I really could keep going," Chōji said matter-of-factly, glaring at Jirōbō in the process. "I'm fluffy for a reason."

"I know, but this fighting is senseless and should stop," Lee answered. Chōji complied and walked over to the bench to finish his lunch while Jirōbō sat on the bench too, itching to watch the rest of Neji's fight with Naruto.

Neji stood up off the ground. "You got lucky," he mused. He was about to charge Naruto when hands grabbed at his arm. He turned, expecting to see Lee since Lee had just stopped Chōji and Jirōbō's fight, but instead, he saw Hinata.

"Neji-niisan, Lee-san's right, this fighting has to stop," she said as she tried to restrain Neji from continuing further.

Neji shoved her away, "you're lucky you're the head of the family's daughter," he sneered as he started walking away. "We're done here," he said, motioning for his friends to follow him.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke was lucky that he got out of the fight, because after it was over, the two P.E. teachers, Guy and Anko showed up to give all of the participants a weeks' worth of ISD, starting right then. They were also given after school detention for that day too though, so after school Sasuke headed home since all of his friends were currently 'busy'.

He made sure to sneak into the house as quietly as possible, unsure if Madara would be all over him about his eyes when he saw him. The idea about his blood filled eyes being Madara's goal had been bugging him all day, and he was sure that the personal library that joined to Madara's den had medical books in there the last time he had snuck in to snoop around. He might finally have a clue for why Madara was so obsessed with red eyes!

Before heading to the library he went to his room. He opened his window as quietly as he could. His plan being that if Madara targeted him in the library, he'd run back to his room and escape through the window like he had originally planned a few days ago. Luckily, the den wasn't far from his room and the library had two entrances so he could run out of the one Madara didn't come through. With his plan made, he went out to set it in motion.

Creeping down the hallway, he avoided every squeaky floor panel he could remember, he was pretty sure he had heard Madara in the kitchen, so he figured as long as he was quiet enough he'd be fine. Once he was inside Madara's den, he paused. A memory had swum into Sasuke's mind. He remembered the first time he had snuck into Madara's den. He was eight.

_"What are you doing in here!" Madara had yelled when he found Sasuke._

_"I-I'm sorry grandpa!" Sasuke stuttered as he backed into a bookshelf, "I… I was just… just curious…" He whimpered._

_Madara stared at him for the longest time before; finally, he pulled a book off of the shelf. "Come here, Sasuke," he said._

_Sasuke complied, following Madara out of the library, back into his den. Madara sat in a large arm chair and motioned for Sasuke to sit on his lap. He did, and was pleasantly surprised to hear Madara treat him to a story, eventually falling asleep in his arms. It had been so long…_

Sasuke shook his head, refocusing on his mission. He walked to the library's door and slowly opened it. Once the door had been pulled all the way open, he walked inside. He turned on the light and immediately started scanning the book cases. A lot of the books were about wars and the histories of different nations. A good number of them were specialty books on things like airplanes, tanks, and fire arms. He was amazed at how many books Madara had collected just on these few subject. Halfway through his browsing he noticed the books had turned medical. "You never said hello when you got back…"

"Sorry sir, I… um…" Sasuke started, turning to see Madara staring at him from across the room. _'Fuck it,' _he decided, running for the second door that lead out of the library. Right as he got to the handle, Madara slammed his arm onto the door to hold it shut. Sasuke ducked, incase Madara tried to grab him, and ran for the other door. He headed for his room as fast as he could, knowing it was suicide to try to go for the stairs since the library's second door opened there.

Madara was right behind him though. Sasuke got to his bedroom, ran out his window, and started heading up the roof, but Madara still didn't ease up. _'Guess I should've figured that with all those books, he used to be in the military,' _Sasuke thought to himself. _'No wonder he's so fucking fast and strong.'_ He kept running on the roof but tripped a little. Madara made his chance and grabbed the back of Sasuke's hoodie. He yanked but the hoodie slipped out of his hands and Sasuke was flung down a story, luckily landing on another section of the roof.

"I just wanted to see your eyes!" Madara screemed.

"Is killing me really worth that!" Sasuke asked flabbergasted. He kept running. Jumping down another story and then jumping again to get to the ground. He rushed to his bike, which he parked near the front door, climbed on, and took off, not sure if it was safe to come back or not anymore.

**xxxxx**

After school, Itachi had taken Sakura home. "So Tachi-kun," Sakura cooed as Itachi walked her to her front door. "My parents are away until tomorrow morning, want to come in and watch a movie?"

"Sure thing Sakura," Itachi purred into her ear as he kissed her temple, operation _bad boyfriend _starting. They walked into her house and towards the living room. As Itachi sat on the couch he asked, "do you have any beer?"

"Uh… my dad does, but I don't think he'll appreciate you drinking it," Sakura answered awkwardly.

"I'm sure he won't notice a few missing," Itachi said with a pleasant smile, _'besides, how am I supposed to do this if I'm not at least a little buzzed?'_

Sakura hesitated but then walked to the fridge to grab a few cans of beer for Itachi. She sat the beers on the tables in front of the couch and then went to pop in a random movie. As she went to sit down Itachi pulled her into his lap, grabbed the beers, and started drinking.

Half an hour later, and five beers down, Itachi was finally ready to make his move. He started by brushing his hand up Sakura's knee. Once he was sure she had gotten used to him doing that, he raised his hand further up her leg, grabbing at her inner thigh. "Knock it off Itachi," Sakura said as she shoved his hand away. He ignored her and started kissing and sucking up and down her neck and shoulders, his right hand up her inner thigh again, and his left hand making its way to her breasts. "Itachi! Knock it off!" Sakura said, shoving Itachi away from her and moving to the other side of the couch.

"Oh c'mon babe, I'm needy," Itachi play whined, inching towards Sakura more. "I thought you understood that."

Sakura gasped. He would think that wouldn't he? After all, she was really slutty towards him. But she wasn't really a slut! "Itachi… I know you're drunk… But, please, get out of my house."

Itachi glared at her. "Fine," he spat, slapping a half filled can of beer onto the ground as he stood up and stormed out of the house. _'Take that,'_ he smirked. _'You're going to think Naruto's a saint compared to me.' _He made his way to his car and then headed home.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke drove to Naruto's house. He pounded on the door but no one answered. He wasn't in the mood to sit and wait for Naruto to get home, and he wasn't in the mood to go to the skate park either, so he decided to just leave his bike at Naruto's house and go for a walk. For the next few hours he walked aimlessly around town, it had grown dark out and he had yet to successfully sort through his thoughts, he was also certain he was lost in an unusual part of town.

As he walked he noticed someone standing under a streetlight. He walked closer and realized it was Sai, painting something under the light. "Sasuke?" Sai asked when he noticed Sasuke staring at him. Sasuke simply nodded. Sai smirked, "so what brings you here?"

Sasuke wasn't about to admit he was lost, "I wanted to fight you!" he said instead.

Sai stood up and put his canvas and paints down while saying, "I see." Sasuke glared at Sai and Sai smiled at Sasuke. Eventually Sasuke made his move but Sai was quick on his feet. He punched Sasuke in the nose, sending Sasuke stumbling back, blood drizzling out of his nose. Sai walked over to him and punched him again before Sasuke could react. Sasuke was on the ground now, starting to sit up, but Sai was quick to get to him. He grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his hoodie, lifted him up and punched him continuously before throwing him back to the ground, unconscious.

As he walked back to where he was sitting, he noticed a piece of paper on the ground. "Oh? What's this?" he asked aloud, picking the paper up and unfolding it. He read its contents. "I see," he said smiling, folding the paper up, and putting it into his pocket. He went back to where he was sitting and started painting again. Five minutes later, Sasuke regained consciousness.

"You're still here?" he asked Sai when he opened his eyes and saw him sitting there.

"Well I wasn't about to just leave you lying on the sidewalk like that," Sai said nonchalantly. "I did have a question for you."

"And what's that?"

"What happened?"

"What?" Sasuke asked confused.

"A while ago, you and Naruto used to be known as really good fighters. You guys were fighting each other all the time. So what happened?" Sai asked. "Why are you so weak now?"

"I, I'm not angry anymore, so Naruto and I almost never fight," Sasuke tried to explain.

"That's no excuse, Naruto was able to kick Gaara's ass not too long ago, and he did fairly well against Neji today, so what's your excuse?"

"I… think it's because of my grandpa," Sasuke said. He was leaning against the wall Sai was sitting on now, and he wasn't sure why he was telling Sai all this. Maybe it was just nice to talk about it to someone who wanted to listen. He could tell that Itachi and Naruto got annoyed about him complaining about Madara since it was his own fault he didn't defend himself anyway. "He's just, been there for me, and he's going through some mental problems now, well, he's always had them but they've been getting worst. I just don't like the idea of fighting him. He always attacks me, and I guess I've just gotten used to not fighting back or at least defending myself…"

"I see…" was all Sai said. Then he stood up, "c'mon, you're coming to my house."

"What, why?" Sasuke asked, back on the defense.

"Because you look like shit and it's late," Sai answered. He grabbed Sasuke's arm, yanked him forward, and started walking home. Sasuke pulled his arm back but followed him no less.

**xxxxx**

When Itachi got home he had noticed Sasuke's bike was still missing, but, since Madara hadn't said different, he assumed Sasuke was just out. As 10:00 rolled around, and Sasuke still wasn't back yet, Itachi just assumed he was spending the night with Naruto, though it was still odd that Sasuke hadn't called to at least tell him. Around 10:30 his phone started ringing, he answered saying, "hello, Naruto."

"Hey Itachi, problem, Sasuke's bike is here but he isn't… He knows that curfew for the house is 9:30 and I have no idea what he's up to," Naruto said.

"Hmmm… Well… let's try not to worry. I'm sure he's okay, if we don't see him tomorrow at school we'll worry then, I'm sure he has a good reason for not contacting us," Itachi advised.

"Okay then," Naruto said, hanging up afterwards. Itachi sighed, even though he told Naruto to remain calm, he couldn't help but worry.

**xxxxx**

**AN: So when I wrote the 'bat out of hell' part, I had been listening to Meatloaf's "I'd do anything for love (but I wont do that)" if you catch the referense ^_^ Also! Any Gleek's out there? Cause I got the idea for Naruto to get slushied from Glee! (I hope it wasn't blueberry flavored :P)... Okay, for those who don't know, the Hyuuga clan's Gentle Fist style of fighting is based off of Bāguàzhǎng (whether I'm having Neji perform it right is a different matter), and, for any a:tla fans, it's also the martial art prominently used by airbenders. Does that mean Neji and Hinata are airbenders? lol jk jk. So, about this story, One of my friends told me that he thinks a lot of people can relate to the Sasuke in my story, which is great! That's always good. I don't know though since I just get a small amount of reviews (which I appreciate!) but regardless I personally think he's a wuss... at least compared to the original where he's a derranged psychopath lol. So for anyone out there who agrees w/me, just know that I found a way to angst/anger him up and I'm starting to work on that. Also, 2 more things! 1, I really like every Naruto character out there (especially Gaara), my story's going to have growth so a lot of characters need to have issues for them to work through, which means my future angsty Sasuske wont be angsty in the future forever...hopefully. And lastly, so that I don't burn out writing this again, I'm going to wait a few days b4 I even think about writing ch. 10. So, until then, I hope you at least enjoyed ch. 9! (wow this AN was long lol) OH! and Sasuke's bleeding eyes is based off of subconjunctival hemorrhaging**


	10. To Know You

**Warnings: foul language. And sorry if characters are ooc!**

**Pairings: not a whole lot  
**

**AN: thoughts and some back story in _italics_ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's copyrighted **

**Chapter 10: To Know You  
**

**xxxxx**

"Maybe I should call Itachi and have him come pick me up," Sasuke started as Sai led him into his bedroom. Sasuke assumed it was his bedroom at least. Pen and Ink pictures and portraits covered the room. For someone without a whole lot of personality, Sai's room was very original. The walls and ceiling looked like one large canvas bored, completely covered in Sai's creations. However, some of the duller aspects of his persona came out from the perfect wood panels that made up the floor, as well as his bare desk, and neatly tucked-in white bedspread.

"Give your phone to me, Sasuke," Sai said, his hand held out towards Sasuke; palm up and finger extended slightly, waiting.

"And why would I do that?" Sasuke asked, digging his hand in his pocket and retrieving his cell. He clicked the number two and was about to hit send, speed-dialing his older brother.

"Always running to nii-san for help? Before you call, I was hoping you could tell me who Hiko is?"

Sasuke flipped his phone shut. "Excuse me?" he gasped, his free hand flying into his pocket, searching for that damn piece of paper.

"Looking for this?" Sai waved the journal page slowly.

Sasuke's mouth dropped. "What do you want?"

"I want you…"

"Fuck no!" Sasuke cut Sai off. That was the last thing he was going to let happen. Pretending to be Sakura's boyfriend was one thing, but there was no way he was going out with Sai.

"…to give me your phone," Sai finished, an amused smile spreading on his face. "You overreact a lot, don't you?"

Sasuke sighed and handed his phone over to Sai. Sai's hand reached out to take the phone, but continued to extend onto Sasuke's own hand, grabbing it as well. He pulled Sasuke into an embrace, squeezing him close. Sasuke was shown how unnecessarily close in height the two of them were as his head was forced to rest on Sai's shoulder due to the sudden embrace.

"This is only a lot awkward Sai," Sasuke said, his teeth grinding into one another.

Sai pulled away but kept his hands on Sasuke's shoulders. "You don't have to hide your desires while you're in front of me Sasuke. I'm the same as you."

Sasuke looked at him perplexed. "What are you talking about?" Obviously Sai had to be getting his delusions from somewhere, but the only thing he knew about Sasuke was, well… nothing. _'Wait! The note?' _"Sai, you are reading into that entry far too much."

"My bad," Sai said, "But Hiko is a boy right?"

Sasuke gasped. "Are you… Are you insinuating that Hiko and I are…" His eyes narrowed and without realizing it, he had clenched his hand into a fist and hurled it right into Sai's chin. Sai fell back a few feet, the back of his knees hitting his bed, bending him backwards, and causing his head to collide with the wall as he continued to be propelled away from Sasuke. The wall shook slightly, causing some of his art to fall onto the bed, un-dried ink marking the white comforter.

"But your note said 'he'. And that it's been-" Sasuke covered his mouth before Sai could keep going.

"I know what it says. But you need to look at this from a completely different perspective. What you're thinking was not at all what I was getting at." Sasuke sighed and removed his hand. He was going to take the note back but Sai had it hidden within his tightly clenched hand. "Can I please have it back?"

"Not until you explain everything to me."

Sasuke stared at Sai solemnly, but he understood that Sai was just confused and intrigued, he only hoped the blackmailing was over but with the whole Deidara and Sasori thing he wasn't sure. "Alright."

**xxxxx**

Thursday

'_That was punishment right? Itachi's never seemed like that kind of a guy. Was he getting back at me for blackmailing Sasuke? Or was it because he thought I'd be that easy?'_ Sakura sat in Jiraiya's English class, continuously replaying yesterday's events in her head; over and over again.

"Sakura? Hello… anyone in there?" Kakashi asked her; lightly knocking on her head with the backside of his hand. Jiraiya was facing a lawsuit against a student's parents for incorporating inappropriate reading material into his curriculum so he and Tsunade were missing from school meaning Kakashi was standing in for both of them.

"What?" Sakura asked, snapping awake from her thoughts.

"The bell rang a few minutes ago. Look, Ebisu is stepping in as Jiraiya's sub while I take care of some things for Tsunade. Do you want to help me and maybe we can talk a little?"

Sakura agreed and followed Kakashi out of the classroom and towards the principal's office. Normally she would feel weird talking to one of her teachers but she had a special bond with both Tsunade and Kakashi.

She and Tsunade actually spent a lot of time after school together. When Tsunade realized Sakura's potential and desire to go into a field of medicine she offered to tutor her. She had once been a great doctor herself, but had to give up on her career when she developed a severe case of hemophobia after failing to save the life of her then boyfriend, Dan, from a bloody car crash.

Kakashi was a different case on the other hand. In retrospect, Sakura should have never developed a bond with him like she had, but four years ago, during her last year at the elementary school, she was one of the nine kids in her grade to be selected for a special project that was held yearly with the sixth graders. Nine children were selected yearly and grouped up with different teachers in order to strengthen their ability to work with others as a team.

The idea is to take children of different potential, backgrounds, and personalities and force them to work with one another so that they could learn and understand their peers better. She had been partnered with Sasuke and Naruto and their overseeing teacher was none other than Kakashi. After each of the children turned in their permission slips the teachers would be allowed to take them out of school and bring them on camping trips, where they were taught survival training, and recruit them to do odd jobs, like lemonade stands, working in different career fields, and doing community service. Sometimes they would do things in large groups with the other two teachers and six selected kids. By the time summer was over and seventh grade was coming up the group had developed a strong bond with Kakashi and each other.

Unfortunately Sakura had since had a falling out with Sasuke and Naruto, but she still felt comfortable enough to talk to Kakashi.

"So what's been troubling you Sakura?" Kakashi asked as he plopped onto the chair in front of Tsunade's computer.

"I don't know where to start," Sakura said melancholically. "I've been a terrible person recently."

"What did you do?"

She hesitated for a second but then slowly began explaining everything. Starting with her growing resentment towards Sasuke after the night she confessed her love to him, continuing to when she had found his journal on the floor outside of his locker. She had opened it to the front cover where his name was dumbly written in the top corner by his younger self, then flipped to the last page with writing on it purely speculating the contents.

Naruto's name, in the final entry, had caught her attention though so she decided, against her better judgment, to read it. Afterwards a boiling rage had crept over her. Why couldn't he have just told her his feeling back then? Didn't they trust each other enough to be honest? She was angry and her past was coming back to her so she ripped the page out and formulated a plan.

But eventually, like it always does, her plan backfired on her. She had finally obtained her goal and was dating Itachi, and yet even that had gone horribly wrong.

"It seems like you have a lot of unattainable requirements in your life," Kakashi said flatly once Sakura was done.

"What are you saying?" Sakura asked, she had started crying and was wiping tears from her cheeks and chin.

"Itachi's twenty-one, he does have needs. Who are you to judge him for wanting what an adult man would want?"

"Excuse me?" Sakura couldn't believe what she was saying. "I have my right to wait!"

"You do. And he has his right to want. If memory serves me correctly, although he was angry, you still got your way. Maybe he is being a jerk for what you did to his brother. But if you're going to have a relationship with an adult, you need to start looking at the relationship from an adult perspective. He's not going to wait for you to grow up."

Sakura stared at Kakashi. He wasn't really answering any of her questions, not that she really presented him with any. Then again, she shouldn't really be upset that he wasn't telling her what she wanted to hear. He hadn't told her she was acting like a slut. He hadn't said she was being a bitch. He hadn't said Sasuke was in the wrong for what he had done to her. All he said was to grow up. Was that it? Was she really just being immature?

"Thank-you for talking to me Kakashi-sensei," she said sheepishly before excusing herself and going to her class, the bell signaling the start of third hour.

**xxxxx**

In class, Sakura hadn't expected to be distracted by an onslaught of notes from Ino and Karin, who she also shared Biology with, all pertaining to why Sasuke wasn't in school. What was she supposed to tell them? She had no idea. She'd have to wait until lunch and ask Naruto, or wait until after school and ask Itachi. Something she wasn't necessarily looking forward to.

_Sakura! What did you do to MY Sasuke! –_Karin had scribbled angrily and then thrown at the back of Sakura's head. She ignored the note.

_Is Sasuke feeling alright or did he have to stay home sick? _–Ino had written neatly and perfectly, casually passing the note to Sakura while Kisame's back was turned. Sakura didn't respond to that note either.

_I SWEAR IF YOU HURT HIM I'M GONNA HURT YOU!_ –Karin scratched into another torn piece of paper with her pink pen. Ten minutes had gone by before she decided to chuck that note at Sakura's head as well.

_I'm kind of worried. He isn't answering any of my texts._ –Ino added in another note a few minutes after Sakura had received Karin's most recent one.

'_When does Sasuke ever answer Ino's text?' _Sakura thought to herself upon reading it. Again, she didn't respond to it, but it did give her the idea to text him herself.

_Sasu-kun, where r u? Every1s freaking out & were all worried._ –She texted to Sasuke under her desk so Kisame wouldn't see. For the rest of the hour she received a handful more notes from Karin and Ino, but no texts from Sasuke. Then, in-between periods, as she was walking back to Kisame's classroom after putting her books from first through third period away, her phone vibrated.

Quickly she hurried to her desk and set her books, for fourth and sixth period, atop it before digging into her purse for her phone. Sneakily, she hid it away from Kisame's site and slid the phone's front screen up.

_Was Sasuke in class with you?_ –Itachi asked in her newest text message.

She frowned. It wasn't from Sasuke but Itachi? Itachi didn't know where his brother was either?

_No.. he wasn't._ –She sent back regretfully. After their mishap she hadn't heard from Itachi, but now he was texting her about Sasuke. He must be really worried.

**xxxxx**

Fourth hour went by with less interruption. Itachi hadn't texted Sakura again and Ino and Karin had left for their next classes so Sakura sat alone, studying Kisame's lessons, and hoping anxiously that Sasuke would get back to her. He didn't, and soon lunch had started.

In the court yard outside of the cafeteria, Sakura sat with her back to a large old oak tree. Kisame had let her class head to lunch early and she rushed to get her food and hide from her peers. She didn't want to be questioned about Sasuke's absence anymore.

As the other students piled into the cafeteria and courtyard she noticed Naruto sitting at a lunch table with his friends, a worried look on his face. The others didn't seem bothered though. Sakura wanted to go over there and talk to him. Ask him why he and Itachi were aware that Sasuke was missing but why no one else was. What was going on? Why weren't her legs moving? _'When did we fall apart?'_

She was afraid to go and talk to him. But why? A memory to an encounter she and Naruto had came to her and she sat a little longer, memorized by it.

"_Naru-to! You shouldn't pick fights with Sasuke. You know he's just going to beat you," Sakura said, berating Naruto. He and Sasuke had just finished a fight and Sasuke had left him bruised and bleeding, lying in the grass with a split lip and a swollen cheek. Snidely, Sasuke had left him there and gone home. The group's activities had finished earlier and Kakashi had already left as well._

"_Well he has to learn that he can't treat everyone else like shit just because he's going through some rough times! I'm sick and tired of him acting all superior than everyone and then acting like a bigger asshole when he's having a bad day!" Naruto said, spitting blood onto the ground and wiping any that remained off of his chin with the back of his hand._

**_-smack-_**

_Sakura slapped Naruto upside his face. "Watch your mouth. What hard times is he going through?"_

_Naruto looked away sheepishly. "His brother is back."_

"_Sasuke has a brother?"_

_Naruto pushed himself off the ground. "I shouldn't be talking to you about this."_

_He turned to leave and head home but Sakura grabbed his hand. "Wait, how do you know all this?"_

"_Sasuke and I do more than just fight you know." Naruto stared at Sakura, disappointment showing. "We're actually friends, Sakura, how can you not see that?"_

Sakura stood up and walked to Naruto's table.

"Hello sexy lady," Kiba said as she came closer to them; grabbing Naruto's attention so that he was now watching her.

"Where is he?" She asked him.

"I don't know," Naruto mumbled.

Sakura stared a little longer, thinking. "Where's Sai?"

Naruto looked at her confused. Then his head perked up and he stood, scanning the courtyard. He found Neji's group, but Sai wasn't in site. He turned back to Sakura and they both mentally agreed that there was a good chance Sasuke's disappearance was related to Sai's absence.

**xxxxx**

In the evening, Sakura sat at the edge of her bed.

_Did u ever hear back from him?_ –She asked Itachi, half expecting him to ignore her but definitely not expecting his sudden reply.

_No. Naruto and Kiba were out all day after school with Kiba's dog in hope of tracking him down; but no luck. _–Itachi replied.

_I'm sorry, If there's any way I can help you know I will _–Sakura texted back.

_There's no need to worry. Sai took me to see Hiko._ Sakura's eyes widened. It was Sasuke! And he was fine. He was with Hiko all day, that's all.

_I just heard from him and he's fine! He's with Hiko!_ –Sakura sent another text to Itachi, hoping this bit of information would calm his nerves.

She smiled, relieved, and left for the bathroom to get ready for the night. After a long shower and once she had finished brushing her teeth, she went back to her phone to find a new text, this one from Itachi.

_Who's Hiko? _

**xxxxx**

**AN: Wow, it's been forever since I've updated this. To be honest someone recently commented on my story and it motivated me into updating. Just goes to show that comments are very handy. ty! Hope you all enjoyed this one.  
**


	11. Those Days

**Warnings: foul language. And sorry if characters are ooc!**

**Pairings: not a whole lot  
**

**AN: thoughts and some back story in _italics_ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, nor am I selling anything, that's copyrighted **

**Chapter 11: Those Days  
**

**xxxxx**

Itachi stared at his phone for a second longer. Sakura hadn't answered him yet and it had already been half an hour. He was on the edge of the cushion, sitting to one end of the couch. Madara was on the other side of the couch, the calf of one leg resting off of the knee of his other; his chin leaning into his hand as his elbow stayed glued to the arm of the couch. Naruto was pacing back and forth. He was going to be late for work if he didn't leave now, but where was Sasuke?

"Do either of you know who Hiko is?" Itachi asked the other two, deciding that Sakura wasn't going to answer him.

Naruto spun around to face Itachi. "I've never heard of him."

Itachi sighed and looked at Madara, waiting for an answer. Madara shrugged 'no'; he hadn't heard the name before either.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

Itachi let out a long, deep breath. "Sakura said that Sasuke is with Hiko."

Naruto stretched and then headed out of the room, about to leave for work. "If he says he's fine, then he's fine. Not a lot we can do until he gets back." They could hear him wrestling to put his shoes back on. "I'll be back after work tonight, and then I'll have to come back to get the truck for work after school tomorrow too."

"See you later then," Itachi said as Naruto called out a goodbye and left the house. The sound of his truck wheezing, as he tried to start it, sounding from outside until he finally pulled away from the large house.

"So what're you going to do about Sasuke?" Madara inquired.

"Aside from grounding him I don't know if there's a whole lot else that I can do," Itachi said.

**xxxxx**

Friday

"Why don't you tell them?" Sai asked as he and Sasuke drove back from Hiko's house. The drive was a few hours long. They had left shortly after lunch and were planning on arriving back home around five.

Sasuke stared out the window of Sai's inky black Lark; his head resting in his hand, keeping silent for several seconds after Sai had asked his question. "Because I'm selfish." Sai glanced towards Sasuke, confusion clearly on his face so Sasuke continued. "I don't want to share them with Itachi, or with Madara. Or with Naruto even."

"Naruto even?" The confusion was still in Sai's voice as he turned his head back to the road. "What does Naruto have to do with anything?"

Sasuke sighed, lifting his head off of his hand, leaning back into the seat, his head tilting up towards the roof, and his hands coming down to rest on his legs. "Naruto is basically my family too, you know? I think of him as a brother. I think Itachi does too to be honest."

"Why's that? Why do you think of Naruto as a brother?"

Sasuke glimpsed at Sai for a few seconds, before facing forward again and closing his eyes, he began to recount to Sai about the first time he had met Naruto. He was four years old and it was his very first day of preschool. It was Naruto's first day too, but he had been introduced to the classroom later than the rest of the kids.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to another new classmate. This is Naruto Uzumaki. Play nicely with him okay?" The teacher had said, kneeling beside Naruto, her hands on his shoulders and a friendly smile on her face. Naruto glared at everyone, clearly not liking the teacher's attention.

Throughout the rest of class, which, because it was preschool, was only half a day long, Naruto proved to be a handful. He spilled finger-paints, drew on the walls and floor, tried picking fights with some of the other students, and at one point the teacher even caught him trying to pee on one of the classroom plants, being egged on by a young Kiba.

Sasuke was quite the opposite. He was shy and friendly, getting along well with the other students and avoiding any conflict he could. He didn't mind Naruto though. Quite the contrary, he was deeply interested in Naruto. Since Sasuke was raised in a strict household, where behavior like that wasn't tolerated, Naruto was something completely new to him.

After school, the students lined up outside of the building, waiting for their parents to retrieve them and bring them home. After half an hour, it was clear to Sasuke that his parents had forgotten him, probably distracted by his prodigy older brother. He and Naruto were the last ones left, standing in silence along the wall, an awkward few feet apart.

"Okay boys, I need to run inside quick and grab something. Don't leave this spot. You know I can't dismiss you until your parents come," the teacher said as she made her way back inside the building.

"Finally," Naruto grumbled. He leaned away from the wall and stretched before scratching his behind. He looked up towards the nearest window and then scanned the school yard before deciding it was safe to sneak away.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked, his innocent voice resounding unsurely.

"Shh!" Naruto said. "Can't you see I'm trying to make a clean break, or are you trying to get me caught? Snitch!"

"I'm no snitch!" Sasuke said defensively. "But teacher said we have to stay."

"Stay for what? If they care so much, shouldn't they have been here by now? Iruka's wasting my time and I'd rather be doing something fun then leaning up against that stupid wall all day."

Sasuke hesitated for a brief moment, but Naruto did have a point. "What are you going to go do?"

"I dunno. Go fishing maybe," Naruto said.

Sasuke's hands came together and his fingers twirled around each other awkwardly, not unlike a shy Hinata used to when she was younger. "D-do you think that I could come? Maybe?" He asked.

Naruto gaped at him. He couldn't believe that this goody-goody wanted to break the school's rules and go fishing with someone like him. "Why would you want to do that?"

His hands reached around his back, one holding the other as one of Sasuke's feet kicked at the dirt. "Well, my nii-san always promised he'd take me fishing 'cuz I've never done it before, but he can't find the time to. And I'd really like to try it." He looked up to Naruto hopefully. The sounds of their teachers' footsteps started echoing against the walls, signaling her nearing return.

"Well let's go then!" Naruto shouted. "Hurry, before she gets back!" He took off towards the forest that surrounded the courtyard, Sasuke following close behind.

**xxxxx**

Fishing was the best experience Sasuke had ever had. Naruto had his own secret base where he kept his fishing rods. Together, they dug through the moist dirt and found worms that they used as bait. Hours quickly went by as they took the time to wait for fish. Though boredom was quick to creep up on them they eased it with games of tag and attempts at catching the frogs that lived by the river. Occasionally, their little side games were interrupted by the bobbing of the corks they had tied to the line, signaling a fish. At one point they had snagged a large fish, and were both holding onto the pole, trying to keep a hold of the fish, but it was so strong it dragged them both into the river, slamming them into the muddy bottom.

Eventually the day had to come to an end. The sun was starting to set and Naruto said he could swear he heard Iruka calling his name. They waved goodbye, delighted that they'd be seeing each other at school the next day, and then parted ways.

As Sasuke clambered his way through the bushes and tall grass, he came across a road that he was sure looked familiar. It was dark though, and the only light came from the few, nearly burnt out, street lamps that followed the sidewalks. As he awkwardly stumbled his way through the dark he came across a tall, scarred man, looming over him.

"Why hello, little Sasuke," the man said.

"Wh-who are you?" Sasuke said, backing away from the man.

The man reached out and grabbed Sasuke's arm. "Don't be afraid. I'm an Uchiha too. I'm your family. Let me help you find your way home."

"You don't look familiar to me at all! I asked who you are," Sasuke struggled to get out of the man's grasp.

"My name is Danzō. Please, quit struggling, I'm just trying to help."

"Let go of him!" Sasuke and Danzō turned around; shocked to see the nine-year-old Itachi standing behind him, and his father standing behind Itachi.

"I said let go of my younger brother." Itachi glared at Danzō but his father, Fugaku, placed a hand in front of the boy. Fugaku walked towards Danzō, reached his hand out to grab the arm that Danzō had a hold of, and pulled Sasuke out of his grip. He turned away, and the three Uchiha's left, leaving Danzō grumbling to himself in the dark.

No one spoke on the car ride home. It was eerie, silent, and Sasuke didn't know what to expect. Once they had arrived, Fugaku ushered his youngest son into the house where his wife, Mikoto, waited anxiously. She took one look at her son, his clothes muddy, torn, and soggy, his hair disheveled, and dirt covering his legs and face, and raced over to him, hugging him closely. Then, her temper flying now that she knew her son was safe, she pulled him away from her and slapped him across the face.

"Where were you?" She snapped.

Fugaku hesitantly tried to calm her, saying, "Dear."

"Mom!" Itachi gasped.

Sasuke started crying. "I'm sorry mama. I was out playing with a boy from school." He gasped through his sobs.

"What boy?" Fugaku said, glaring at Sasuke.

"His name's Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke said.

"Uzumaki? Naruto?" Mikoto questioned. She turned towards Fugaku. "You don't think he means Kushina's and Minato's Naruto do you?" Sasuke continued sniffling and Mikoto beckoned Itachi to take him to the kitchen so he could eat.

It was a day in Sasuke's life that he would never forget. And it was a time of Sasuke's life that, for a few years, he wished he would forget. From that day, until shortly before Sasuke started fourth grade, he and Naruto were inseparable. As it turned out, Naruto's deceased mother used to be good friends with Mikoto, so she was happy to have him in her house, treating him like one of her own. Everything the boys did, they did together. Though some thought that Itachi would have become jealous that Naruto was taking away all of his time with Sasuke, he was glad to share. He didn't have a lot of free time and was glad that Sasuke now had Naruto to play with. Besides, he had two brothers now.

But after the explosion that killed nearly all of his family, Sasuke was different. He was living in a new house, with a strange man he had never met before, and his brother had been taken away from him. After his mourning period was declared over, he was forced to go back to school. Then he saw Naruto and all he wanted to do was go over to him and-

Before Naruto knew what was happening Sasuke had thrown his fist right at his face.

"What are you doing?" Naruto roared. He had hit a desk and toppled to the floor. "What's your problem Sasuke?" The students had moved out of their desks and were standing beside the walls, the teacher, Naruto's guardian, Iruka, was absent from the room at the moment.

"You! You are my problem! I hate looking at your face. You're nothing but a loser. A dobe! Don't come near me! EVER!"

"Aaargh!" Naruto stood up and rushed towards Sasuke, flying into his gut and shoving him into a chair, falling with him to the ground. They wrestled each other, trying to pin the other to the ground long enough to get a punch in, but being tossed over instead just to repeat the process in the reverse.

One of the girls in the class, one with short black hair and unusually light eyes, ran out of the room, desperately trying to find Iruka. A few minutes later he came running into the room and pried the boys apart, giving them detention.

**xxxxx**

"We were like that for a long time," Sasuke said to Sai, finishing his story. "All Naruto knew was that we were friends and then out of nowhere I cut him off. He was angry at me and felt betrayed. All I knew was that every time I looked at Naruto, I remembered all the happy and fun times I had with him and my family, and I wanted to forget it. I wanted to erase those memories and just start new, but I couldn't as long as he was there." He sighed again before finishing. "He and I have been through a lot together."

"I never realized just how much. I can see why he'd feel betrayed. You must have really hurt him," Sai said.

"It wasn't just the betrayal. I was always popular, but with my sudden hatred of Naruto, it seemed almost everyone was turning their backs on him. They wanted to be on my side, not his, so I left him feeling completely alone."

They had finally pulled up to the Uchiha manor. "Well, you're kind of an asshole, huh?" Sai said.

Sasuke smirked. "You could say that." He opened the door and got out of the car. Not bothering to say 'thanks' for the lift.

**xxxxx**

Sakura sat in her car after school. Stuck in her head, wondering about the text she had gotten from Itachi.

'_He lied to me. They both lied to me. They've been playing me this entire time, haven't they?' _She thought to herself. Itachi had sent a text that said, 'Who's Hiko?' but hadn't he told her that he already knew what Sasuke's secret was? That he was waiting for Sasuke to tell him himself? Sasuke's journal talked about Hiko, so obviously, if Itachi knew the secret, then he'd know it pertained to Hiko, thus he'd know who Hiko was. _'I'm being redundant.'_

There was no way around it though. Someone was lying to her. She decided that Itachi was probably just covering for Sasuke, being a good brother and deciding to let Sasuke come to him when he was ready.

She looked at her clock. It was a little after five. Her lesson with Tsunade had gone longer than normal, but it was better this way. She took out her phone and dialed Itachi's number. It was time a few things finally got figured out.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke headed towards the front door of his grandfathers large house, just in time to greet Naruto who was making his way to his truck for work. After spending the long car ride reminiscing about his friendship with Naruto, seeing the blonde sparked unusual touchy feelings in Sasuke. He nearly wanted to reach out and hug his friend, regret filling his body. Not that he ever would though. That'd be stupid, but, the thought was still there. Kind of.

"So that's it huh?" Naruto said, raising his voice to Sasuke. "You do everything you can to avoid that prick and then the next thing we all know is you're out with him all night and all day, going places that you probably won't even tell us about. No notice. No heads up. Just spending time with your new best friend?"

'_So much for the touchy feelings…' _Still, since he was in regret-mode he did indeed regret ditching Naruto like that. He really should have called, but the only person he did tell was Sakura.

"I'm sorry Naruto, you're right."

Naruto gaped at him. "Well… good then." He headed further to his truck but then whipped around to face Sasuke again. "Don't think you're off the hook though!" He pointed a finger at Sasuke and frowned. Then he climbed into his truck and drove back to town. Mumbling "teme" under his breath.

**xxxxx**

**AN: I've actually gone and story-boarded a good portion of this fanfic so I have a rough guess of how much longer this is going to be. Because I've done this though it is possible that there will be short chapters like this one. That's okay in my opinion. It means less to write at one time and less for all of you to wait for and go through (when you finally get it.) I wish I had done this two years ago when I started the story. It's been two years right? But I'm a little more organized now. Plus, I don't procrastinate nearly as much. Tomorrow I'll go through chapter 2 and make any corrections that I think are needed. I've already done chapter 1 and I'm just going to slowly make my way through the story.  
**

**Okay 2 more things.  
**

**1) Yeah. I know Danzo isn't technically an Uchiha. Read on. Read on.  
**

**2) Sasuke's and Naruto's preschool teacher is a bitch. Why do I say this? Because when I was typing the scene where she leaves them outside while she runs inside I kept thinking that it was probably a really hot and muggy day and that she wanted to avoid the heat for a few moments and maybe get some water. So yeah, in my head she selfishly left little kids outside while she went to 'pamper' herself. :( Also, I'm not around 4 year olds enough to know if I've accurately portrayed them, but this is based off of an anime/manga so who friggin cares?  
**

**Enjoy this AN while it's here cuz I'll probably take it down later. Until next chapter then :D  
**


	12. That Chance

**Warnings: Foul language. Alternative Universe.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 12: That Chance  
**

**xxxxx**

"Damn teme!" Naruto cursed under his breath as he brought a pizza to his truck, about to go on his fifth delivery. The night was going by slowly and he couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke. _'First he's gone all day and making everybody worry and then he gets back and actually apologizes sincerely. Who the fuck does he think he is?"_ Naruto punched his dashboard quick, telling himself to leave the internal ranting until he was done with work. He grabbed his keys off the top of the delivery bag and threw them into the ignition, starting his truck. Before pulling out of the parking lot he glanced at the address printed on the receipt.

It was unusual for him to make a delivery to this part of town, but hey, rich snobby people like to eat pizza too, right?

While the manor that Sasuke lived in was located a mere few minutes outside of town, this specific address was located towards the edge of the city, where the city itself became obscured by a small prefecture threatening to become its own town. Not to say they were fighting to literally be their own town, but this section of the city was actually inhabited by the same one family. Smaller town houses and apartment buildings littered the outside of this mini-town. Farther into the heart of the district, the houses gradually grew bigger and more luxurious, with tall, neatly trimmed hedges, columns that stood alongside the buildings, porches, canopies, gardens, and large trees. It wasn't hard to pick out which houses were inhabited by the branch family as opposed to the main family.

And Naruto was going right into the heart of the prefecture. Right to the main house, owned by the head of the family that surrounded it. The entire time, thinking, _'this is so weird.'_

He grabbed the bag and climbed out of his truck; awkwardly making his way up the marble steps to the tall wooden double doors where he rapped his knuckles timely.

Several seconds later, the door was slowly pulled open and a shy Hinata peeped her head around the door, blushing extensively. "H-hello Naruto-kun. I d-didn't realize _you _were the one who'd be delivering the p-pizza… … … …

"…

"…

"… w-want to come in?"

Naruto stifled a laugh. Hinata was so weird. "Actually, I'm enjoying it out here a lot. It's a nice night and the scenery is great." In reality he just wanted to avoid her family; not that he didn't care about them or whatever, he just wasn't dressed to impress and hated the idea of being judged by them over his unruly hair and delivery-boy uniform. "You want to come out here?"

Hinata turned her head right and then left, as if checking to see if anyone inside of the house was watching her. Then she nervously squeezed herself through the small opening she had made with the door, before quietly shutting it behind her. They stood staring at each other for a few uncomfortable seconds before Naruto plopped himself down on the steps; he could take a small break from work. They were dead anyway, and besides, Hinata decided to join him, sitting down on the completely opposite side of the step as she could.

"So, is this your pizza?" Naruto said, lifting the bag off the ground an inch to indicate it.

Hinata shook her head. "N-no; it's Neji-niisans."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Not that I've ever really tried to understand the guy, but Neji is just a branch member of your family right? Why would he want his pizza delivered to the main house?"

Hinata looked down to her feet, which were wrapped in a cute pair of sandals. "W-well he actually lives here. I-It's kind of complicated, but, yeah…" She tilted her head up to look at Naruto, an expression of confusion mixed with embarrassment on her face, as if she just didn't know how to explain everything in simple terms. "All and a-all, we took him in."

"You guys aren't like, betrothed are you?" Naruto chuckled. He put his arms behind himself and leaned back.

"Wha? No! Oh goodness no!" Hinata said, reacting a little too strongly.

Naruto laughed harder. "I was kidding; it was a joke!" He leaned over to her and lightly shook her shoulder a few times while he laughed.

"O-oh, okay…" Hinata smiled, even more embarrassed, red covering her face.

"Well, if this is his then I'm helping myself to a slice," Naruto said. He pulled the pizza box out of the bag, opened it up, and grabbed a slice; it was a plain pepperoni pizza. Before shoveling the first slice into his mouth, he asked if Hinata wanted any, but she politely declined.

"N-Naruto-kun, y-you seem so much happier now," She said. He looked at her oddly while chewing on his slice. "I-it's just, you looked upset about something w-when I o-opened the door, but you don't anymore."

Naruto swallowed loudly. "Oh. That." He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his black and orange hoody. "Sasuke just pissed me off again."

Hinata faced away from Naruto a tad. "I don't mean to question your judgment, but why are you friends with someone like him?" Naruto gave her a stern look, nearly glaring at her. "I-I just… I just mean… You're so nice, and he always seems to cause you pain. When I see him, I just think of that day when he-"

"When he told me he never wanted me to come near him again?" Naruto wasn't looking at her anymore. He had reached into the box to grab another slice of pizza and now appeared to be studying it ominously. Hinata nodded her head this time. "Honestly. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, scared awake by the thought of him doing it again."

She looked at his eyes earnestly. If only he could see that, but he was too busy looking at his pizza. "You can go on," she almost whispered, earning a quick glance from him. She leaned forward a little and carefully, almost gracefully, opened the box before pulling out a slice for herself.

The atmosphere broke a little from her decision to grab a slice of pizza, allowing Naruto to relax enough to continue.

After Sasuke had started that fight, no one would talk to him anymore. His classmates openly ignored him. In the cafeteria, in the school yard, during gym; he was lucky to get someone to at least yell or laugh at him, let alone talk to him. Sasuke himself didn't speak to him for a whole year, maybe a little longer. And when he did finally start talking to him, it was nothing but insults made in front of their peers. They fought more than they talked, and Sasuke always won.

Whenever they were put into the same team during gym, Sasuke left Naruto out if he could, if he couldn't he would try ignoring him. If it was critical that Naruto actually play, then Sasuke would refer to him as nothing but 'dobe'.

If they were partnered in a class together, Sasuke would do all of the work himself and hand it in. Even writing Naruto's name on the paper for him just so that he wouldn't have to physically walk over to him and hand him the paper long enough for him to do it himself. The teachers noticed this but allowed it anyway. Naruto's grades dropped terribly following the breakup of their friendship, he simply stopped caring about school, and so it was actually common for a teacher to partner the two of them up with projects so that Sasuke's flawless work could bump up Naruto's grade enough for him to pass the class.

Towards the ending of fifth grade and the beginning of sixth grade, Naruto had made some friends. He never shared a bond with them that was as strong as the one he had with Sasuke, but at least he had kids to play with again. The group primarily consisted of Kiba, Chōji, and Shikamaru. Still, the older he got, the more he realized that the three friends he had were three more than Sasuke had.

Even though Sasuke surrounded himself with a large crowd and was always hanging out with the popular kids at school, Naruto noticed that the smile he gave off was never sincere; that after school, Sasuke always went straight home. Naruto didn't mean to study Sasuke, but he couldn't help it. He was always left wondering why Sasuke had cut him off like he did; especially if he wasn't even going to make real friends.

Iruka told him, when it first happened, that Sasuke was just going through a hard time in his life, which was understandable, and that eventually he'd be ready to be friends again. But after almost three years had gone by, Naruto was worried that it would never happen the way Iruka said it would, and would he really want to be Sasuke's friend if Sasuke asked anyway?

Iruka was worried too.

Then, at the start of the fourth quarter of sixth grade, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were thrown into a group together, under the guidance of Kakashi.

Sasuke and Naruto began fighting more than ever. Left and right it seemed that one of them had punched the other or had started an argument. No matter what though, Sasuke was the one who won, and Naruto was the one who was left with his face in the dirt, or the cement, or the linoleum, or a tree, or a wall, or any other place Sasuke _so kindly _chose to leave him.

Sakura never understood why Naruto was so willing to fight Sasuke when he always lost. It was because of the attention! And Sasuke was finally starting to talk to him on a regular basis, even if it was generally rude and standoffish.

The group project extended into the summer and only disbanded once they entered seventh grade. It wasn't unusual for the three of them to hang out near each other during school or to walk a small distance home together. The other two groups were doing it too. It was a bond and it was a habit that just wasn't willing to break yet.

A few weeks into seventh grade, Naruto entered his classroom a little earlier than normal. All the desks were lined up in groups of three, and this time he was planning on sitting in the middle chair so that Sakura would have to sit by him only; a plan so ingenious he was surprised he'd come up with it on his own.

Sasuke was already there though, which, on one hand, it wasn't too out of the ordinary for Sasuke to arrive early, but on the other, it was odd that Sasuke was there that early. He was sitting off to the side though, so Naruto didn't care because it meant his plan would still work. He walked to the desks and plopped down in the chair next to Sasuke's.

"My brother's back."

Naruto gaped at Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't looking at him, but he had actually started a reasonably conversation with him; no 'don't sit next to me' or 'scoot over' nonsense. Just a casual conversation about his-

"Wait! What? Back from the dead?" Naruto asked shocked. Since Sasuke had cut him off out of the blue, and since no one really talked about the ordeal around the kids, Naruto had always assumed Itachi had perished with the rest of the Uchiha's.

Sasuke shot a glare at him. "Not from the dead you idiot; from Juvie."

"Well jeeze. Sorry that you failed to clue me in on all of this," Naruto said sarcastically. Sasuke decided to ignore him, but Naruto didn't want that, this was the most progress they had ever made in repairing their friendship. "Shouldn't you be happy?"

"He's the reason my family is gone, and now he's trying to take me from the only family I have left."

Naruto wanted to proclaim is shock at never realizing Sasuke was living with a family member, but he felt it would make him seem too stupid. He couldn't believe he never questioned who Sasuke had been living with this entire time.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He could tell what was going through Naruto's head as the blonde fought himself from saying his revelation. "The man's name is Madara. He's an outcast of the family and lives in that large manor outside of the city."

'_Holy crap, Sasuke's been living in that mansion?'_ Naruto thought to himself.

Sasuke continued. "Itachi thinks that now that he's back he can just take me away from there. That place is my home now. Itachi can go fuck himself."

Naruto winced. He wasn't used to Sasuke not calling his brother by the affectionate 'nii-san', and hearing him talk so coarsely about Itachi was weird. "I'm sure Itachi can't gain custody from Madara anyway. He's fresh out of juvie right? Who in their right mind would give him, a seventeen-year-old might I add, custody of a child?" Naruto offered.

Sasuke nodded his head. "That's what I've been thinking."

"So then, what's the problem?"

Sasuke sighed and leaned against the back of his chair, his head falling back as he faced the ceiling. "There's a lot of tension in the house. Madara and Itachi basically hate each other."

Finally, a chance for Naruto had come. "Well if you'd like, you could always come to the skate park with me and the gang to get away for a little bit…" Sasuke noticeably cringed so Naruto changed his plan mid sentence, "… or, I could come over and break the tension a little."

"I think I'd like that."

**xxxxx**

Naruto and Hinata had finished Neji's pizza by the time Naruto's reminiscing was done. A couple of hours had gone by. "Even though Sasuke had caused me all of that pain, when he reached out to me, it was one of the happiest moments of my life," Naruto finished.

"I have a new 'happiest moment of my life' every time I talk to you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. Naruto whipped his head in her direction. What was she getting at? "You're so brave, and you're always willing to give someone a second chance. You're a fun person and you're easy to get along with. It's selfish of me to want to be with you when there are so many others, like Sakura, who would be better for you." She had been looking at him but with her last word she faced her cupped hands, which rested just off of her knees.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "I've noticed you watching me. I know you're the girl who ran out of the room to get Iruka to break up the fight I was in with Sasuke that day. I know that you wanted to come talk to me when we were younger but that you were too shy." He paused for a breath. "Even though we've never really hung out before, I have always felt a special connection with you too, like the rest of my friends."

Hinata's eyes were intense and longing. She was staring at him intently and he wasn't sure what to do. Where was Jiraiya's _How to REALLY Deal with Women_ book when he needed it… not that he had ever read it, but still.

He shied away from her. "H-how much do I owe you?" She asked once she realized she was making him uncomfortable.

"Nothing, this ones on me," he said, smiling as he stood up off the steps, his delivery bag in hand. He knew he was fired anyway. He'd have to find a new way to pay Itachi for his truck.

They were about to have an awkward goodbye when Neji slammed the door open.

"I saw you two talking so I thought I'd let you chat it up a bit, but damnit you can talk Naruto. Give me my…" he caught site of the empty box and a vein, caused by annoyance, started protruding from his forehead. "You ate all of my fucking pizza? Damnit Naruto!" Neji was about run out of the house but Naruto laughed, said a quick 'bye' and then dashed to his truck.

**xxxxx**

Earlier, back when Sasuke had finally come home…

Sasuke entered into the manor, quickly greeted by Tobi.

"Sasu-chan! You better run; Itachi is super angry," Tobi said. Itachi pounded out of the kitchen, towards the front door, scaring Tobi into hiding behind Sasuke. "Oh no, he's gonna kill you."

"I believe you have some explaining to do," Itachi said flatly.

Sasuke had to think quickly, knowing that Itachi would need a tangible answer, but still trying to keep his secret a secret. "Sai and I went to visit someone."

"That's not good enough!" Itachi seethed at Sasuke. There was no getting out of this one. Sasuke had never seen Itachi this angry before, not even when he and Madara had first met.

"I'm sorry nii-san, but that's it. I know it was wrong not to call, or to ditch school, but really, we were just visiting someone."

Itachi grabbed Sasuke's shirt collar and hoisted him onto the door, Tobi ducking under Sasuke before running out of the room, saying "Take the kid but not me!"

"You are not to leave this house without permission again. Not to school, not to Naruto's house or the skate park. In fact, you can't even step out into the garden without asking me first. From now on, you come home right after school, and you leave here to only go to school. Understand?" Itachi was talking in a low, deep voice. He was glaring so intensely that Sasuke was sure one of the vessels in Itachi's eyes would pop. He could see Tobi peeking his head around the corner.

"You're condemning me to his abuse if you do this," Sasuke said solemnly.

"And you still refuse to tell me what's going on?" Itachi said. Sasuke nodded his head yes, earning him a smack from Itachi. Itachi dropped him and turned away to head back to the kitchen. "Go to your room."

"Mom's slaps were harder," Sasuke said.

Itachi turned back to him. "Now."

Sasuke grumbled as he made his way up the stairs. How much longer was he going to let Itachi control his life? Wasn't he old enough to make his own decisions now?

Tobi ran to the base of the stairs. "You really grounded him?"

"It would appear so." Itachi walked back to the kitchen as his phone started to ring. _'Why is Sakura calling me?'_ he wondered as he answered the call.

**xxxxx**

**AN: I was looking over chapter 11 when I realized that I said Sasuke and Naruto had their big near 8th grade. That's wrong. I wrote that because I was thinking they'd both be close to 8 y.o. at the time, so actually they were close to 4th grade. I've gone ahead and fixed that in the last chapter in case anyone is confused. Time to go and edit chapter 3. See yous next chapter.  
**


	13. When the Time Comes

**Warnings: Foul language. Alternative Universe.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 13: When the Time Comes  
**

**xxxxx**

'_I can't believe Sakura still wants to date me,' _Itachi thought as he drove into town to pick her up. When he answered her phone call earlier, she had just gotten out of school, having spent extra time there studying with Tsunade.

"How can I help you?" He asked; his voice sharper then it needed to be, but he was still angry with Sasuke at the time.

"Just seeing what you were up to. I wanted to know if you wanted to do something tonight," Sakura answered.

Itachi pulled his phone away and looked at the caller ID. Yep. It was still Sakura. Was she pulling a prank? Why would she still want to come over after the way he acted last time?

"Sure," he decided to say. Might as well see what she was scheming. He might have to be crueler to her if she really wanted to continue their relationship though.

"Great. Would you mind coming over and picking me up in an hour?" Sakura asked. He agreed to the arrangement and now here he was, driving to her house to get her.

**xxxxx**

Sakura watched Itachi round the corner of her block and then pull into her driveway. He began honking the horn to get her attention. She was happy her parents weren't there to hear the commotion. She grabbed her bag, a relatively big blue back with straps, much like a backpack only she didn't use this one for school, and headed for the door, hesitating as her hand went to grab the handle.

It seemed that neither of the Uchiha's wanted her, instead, they just wanted to play games with her. Her hand began to twitch. Soon she was trembling. She grabbed the handle and squeezed the knob tightly. She bit down on her lower lip as she held back tears. _'Where did everything go wrong? Why am I resorting to this?' _Sakura couldn't understand why, after everything she had gone through with Sasuke, he still didn't want her. And, due to her foolish antics, she was now stuck with Itachi. The plan she had come up with this time was about to mark her, worst than any before. She was going to push Itachi as far as she could; guilt-trip him, possibly even blackmail him as well, if necessary. She wanted answers.

She read Sasuke's secret. She knew of Hiko. Whatever the two were to each other, she wasn't sure, but now she needed to know. She had to find a way to get Itachi to talk. _'But he doesn't even know who Hiko is…'_

Here she was, stuck between a rock and a hard place. After everything she had done… Sure, Sasuke had gone through struggles with the death of his family that she wasn't there for, but they were a group together. She helped him with all the Orochimaru stuff from long ago. The stuff she was sure even Naruto didn't know about.

It was around when Itachi came back. Sasuke had finally turned to Naruto for help, _'if you could call it that.'_ He just wanted someone there when Itachi and his grandfather got into their fights. But even Naruto couldn't be there all the time and Sasuke wasn't sure he wanted to go to the skate park with him; he wasn't too friendly with the other guys. So he started staying after school for a change.

It was then that Orochimaru, another science-related teacher at the large school, started taking interest in him. The duration of their time together spanned over a few months. It began when Orochimaru randomly stumbled into Sasuke while they were walking the halls. He noted Sasuke's naturally athletic physic and good posture. Then, later that day, he looked at Sasuke's file and noticed how smart he was.

The next day, Orochimaru met Sasuke outside his classroom. "Sasuke Uchiha, am I right?"

Sasuke nodded unsurely, the overly pasty teacher, with his snake like eyes and long black hair, gave him a queasy, uneasy feeling in his gut.

"I'm Orochimaru, a teacher from the high school and college section. It's remarkable how incredibly gifted you Uchiha brothers are. Years ago I tried to persuade Itachi-kun into letting me experiment on him a bit, nothing harmful; just studies of the human body. But he never let me. It was a pity, him letting those great genetics go to waste." The snake-like man, having said the majority of what he wanted, turned and began walking away. "If you want to help me help science, the way your brother didn't; then please come by my office sometime."

Sasuke couldn't believe his ears. The teachers were starting to question why he kept staying late after class, but this would be a great excuse. Plus, he'd finally be doing something where he wouldn't be compared to Itachi. He followed Orochimaru; hoping to start immediately.

Meanwhile, Sakura had also interested the new principal, Tsunade. She too was staying late after school, learning medical terms and low-level techniques; things that she would be able to put into college résumés.

Over the next several weeks, she and Sasuke saw each other more frequently, running into one another when the teachers were permitting breaks. Gradually, she noticed a change in Sasuke. Bags were starting to develop under his eyes. Then his muscles started getting bigger. Then it seemed that every time they met on break he was always sweating and out of breath.

Finally, they had met up for what would be there last break together.

"Sasuke? What happened?" Sakura asked Sasuke as he sat on the steps that led into the cafeteria. He was panting more than normal, guzzling down a bottle of water, and wearing nothing but a tank top and boxer shorts. "Why are you in your underwear?"

"I got hot working out today for Orochimaru," Sasuke said flatly. "It happens sometimes depending on what machine he wants me to use." Sasuke had already explained to Sakura, on an earlier date, that Orochimaru tested his physical abilities; such as endurance and strength. Most of the testing used gym equipment and a blood pressure monitor. "I'm not going back though. Ever."

"Why?" Sakura asked, taking a seat next to Sasuke and handing him a lunch box that she had made for him; another thing that he had grown used to.

"I think he made a pass at me. I don't know though, it was really weird." Sasuke opened the box and began shoveling food in his mouth.

Sakura gasped. "What did he do?"

"He… …. … bit me… … It's… right here," He said in between mouthfuls of food before indicating the bite mark. Sure enough, at the spot where his neck and shoulders met, there was a fresh bite mark. Sakura could make out the teeth pattern that Orochimaru left.

"Oh my! Sasuke, you need to tell Itachi or Tsunade or someone," Sakura said after running her fingers across the bite.

"No," Sasuke said sternly. "No one is to know about this Sakura. I'm taking this to my grave before I let my brother find out that the guy he smartly avoided did this to me. It's bad enough Orochimaru's assistant, Kabuto, was there."

Sakura nodded her head understandingly. She didn't want to make Sasuke mad. She was a little upset that she and Sasuke wouldn't be able to meet up like this anymore, but they were more than acquaintances now. They were friends. She was sure that if she actually went out of her way and asked him to hang out he would. Someday, she wanted to tell him how she really felt. There was something between them; she knew there was. The connection was strong, and now they even had a secret together.

**xxxxx**

Itachi's horn blared through her door, bringing Sakura back to the present. She was so different than the girl back then. Now she was about to do the unthinkable. All because she wanted answers and was out of methods of getting them. Her worst fear: that Sasuke would hate her in the end.

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, taking a deep breath, then, finally, she opened the door and walked towards Itachi's car.

"Took you long enough," Itachi grunted as she climbed inside.

"It's good to make a man wait," Sakura said, quoting her mom.

"That's what you were taught huh?" Itachi sighed before pulling out of the driveway and heading back home. He turned the music up loud to avoid conversation, so the trip was ridden in uncomfortable silence.

Upon reaching the manor Itachi finally turned the music down. "What is it you want to do?"

"Well for starters, I was hoping we could relax in your room, away from everyone else." Sakura had left the car; Itachi however, was starting to leave the car but then hesitated. She didn't mean what he thought she did, did she?

After he had gotten out of the car, he guided her to his room. It was large, with a tall window and a queen sized bed. The bedding was black and gold. His dressers and desk were oak. There was also a large flat screen TV attacked to a wall with a coffee table and couch next to it. Near the window were a few bookcases; all of which were full.

"Your room is amazing," Sakura said, doing a little twirl before dropping her bag and falling back onto the bed.

"Make yourself at home I guess," Itachi said sarcastically; the rude-persona back.

"I'd feel more at home if you were over here," Sakura said bashfully. Itachi put a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples. He couldn't believe she was doing this. He walked up next to the bed and she brought herself up to her knees so that they were close to eyelevel with one another. She brought her arms around his neck and placed her lips onto his, initiating a kiss.

'_I suppose we'll just have to see who wins at this game of Sex Chicken,' _Itachi thought as he brought a hand to her waste. He slid his hand under her shirt and brought it up her body, resting it on her breast. Since he wasn't really going to have sex with her he kept his hand over her bra. In fact, he didn't do anything else with the hand, hoping that the sudden contact would be enough to scare her out of the idea.

Did it? No. She squeezed her arms tighter around his neck and pulled him down onto the bed. They deepened their kiss as he placed his other hand on her ass and squeezed it. Still nothing. _'Crap, I might lose,'_ he thought.

"Sakura, do you really want to do this?" He asked; not hiding the anger in his voice.

Itachi's tone hurt her. She could hear the disgust within it. "O-of course."

He pulled away from her. "I'm not having sex with you and we're not dating. Go after someone your own age." He exited the room, slamming the door behind him, as she started crying on his bed.

She had hoped that becoming intimate with him might have given her enough pull on either of the brothers to get answers. Whether because she could use Itachi's age against him and black mail him for her answers, or if the intimacy would soften him up enough to tell her and be honest. Sakura was really hoping that it would cause jealousy in Sasuke and that that might get her the information she wanted.

It didn't matter now though.

Itachi wouldn't have to worry about her anymore, and he definitely wasn't going to find her in his room. She couldn't stand facing him now.

She quietly made her way out of his room, closing the door softly, and then walking further down the hall. She had only been to the manor a handful of times, and even though it was easy to get lost in a place so big, she figured she'd be able to find Sasuke's room again.

Sure enough, she found the room she believed was his, and knocked on the door.

"What?" Sasuke answered rudely before realizing Sakura was the one knocking on the door. "Sakura, what's wrong?" He asked after seeing her tear stained face. She shook her head, refusing to answer, before wrapping her arms around him and crying into his neck. He placed a hand on her back and then gently pulled her into his room, closing the door behind him.

**xxxxx**

Itachi had gone into the kitchen and grabbed himself an unopened box of beer, planning on drinking the disgust he had for himself away. He felt terrible for messing with Sakura; for lying to her, tricking her, playing Sex Chicken with her. The games had to stop. Everything was out of his hands though. What with Sasuke keeping secrets and disobeying his authority, Naruto having his truck taken away, Madara getting crazier by the day, and Sakura sluting herself out to him _and _Sasuke because she was trapped in her head and crazed with plans of revenge and who knows what else.

After taking as much time as possible to grab his drinks, he made his way up to his room. If she was still crying he was going to offer her one. He really wished he didn't have to do this; to find her crying on his bed and deal with the mess that was Sakura Haruno. He opened the door, but she was gone. He looked up and down the hall quickly, finally figuring that she had gone to Sasuke's room. _'Good, he'll be able to make her feel better,' _he thought, relieved, before walking to his couch and turning on his TV.

**xxxxx**

"You 'bout done crying Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he held onto her still. They were now sitting on his bed. He felt her nod her head. "And you're sure you don't want to talk about it?" He felt her nod her head again. His hands ran up her arms, to her shoulders, and he gently pulled her away from him. "How about we play TobiDara?"

"What's TobiDara?" Sakura asked, her voice shaking from the crying.

He ignored her loud sniffle. "Only the best game in the world," he said childishly, hoping to lessen her depressed mood. "It's kind of dangerous though," he added offhandedly as he stood up, lifting her up as well. "Let's go."

They left his room and headed down the stairs; then walked into the living room, which was currently occupied by the third Uchiha.

"This is going to be good," Sasuke whispered to Sakura. "If it gets out of hand you're going to have to get Itachi though."

"What are you to whispering about?" Madara asked annoyed.

"Oh man," Sasuke said to Madara, laughing a little. "It's just, Sakura here, was telling me this really funny joke." He forced out another laugh and then slapped Sakura playfully on the back, ushering her to 'go with it'.

"Yeah," She started, forcing herself to laugh as well. "It was really funny." Then she started giggling. She didn't understand what was going on, but watching Sasuke force himself to laugh was causing her to really laugh.

"What was it?" Madara asked, his voice getting a little lighter.

"I don't even think I could repeat it. Something about trolls and cookies," Sakura answered. Sasuke let out a real laugh, caught off guard by Sakura's response.

"T-tell Tobi! He wants to know," Tobi whined to Sakura. She gasped and looked to Sasuke quickly. She'd never witnessed a transition before.

"Leave her alone grandpa," Sasuke barked angrily.

"Watch your tone with me brat," Madara ordered. He turned towards Sasuke. "And what did I say about calling me that?"

"I thought you wanted to hear my joke," Sakura said hurriedly, thinking that Madara was kind of scary. Sasuke started laughing again.

"This isn't fair! What are you guys laughing at?" Tobi said. He was turning his head from Sasuke to Sakura and back again.

"Both of you leave him alone before you really piss off the angry, grumpy one," Itachi yelled from up the stairs.

"He's more like the angry, grumpy one," Sasuke mumbled. "Fucker just stopped our fun." He made his way back up the stairs.

"Sorry Tobi, maybe you could ask Itachi to tell you the joke," Sakura said slyly. Before she could get to the foot of the stairs Tobi had already bypassed her and Sasuke, hurrying to Itachi's room to demand to know the joke.

**xxxxx**

Saturday

Around ten in the morning Sasuke started shaking Sakura awake. He had let her stay with him for the night since Itachi wasn't offering her a ride home and he wasn't allowed to leave. He was sure Itachi would have given him permission to drop her off but he wanted to be difficult. That, and he didn't want to put Sakura in the awkward situation of riding in the car with Itachi if he had decided to do it himself.

"What time is it?" Sakura asked groggily. This wasn't the first time they had slept beside each other, and it probably wasn't going to be the last; they had many experiences like this camping out with Kakashi and Naruto so they were all comfortable with the close contact.

"It's time for me to take you home." Sasuke had already changed. He was wearing a white tank-top, a tan zip-up hoody, baggy black pants, and black sandals. "Nii-san just left to run errands so I can sneak out." Sakura could tell he was excited about the idea.

"Well let me change quick, sheesh." Sakura started to push herself out of his bed.

He handed her the blue bag she brought from home. "Itachi gave it to me earlier this morning. Be quick, I'll be downstairs." He left the room as she began putting on a red shirt, pink arm warmers, a tan skirt over short, black leggings, and a pair of open-toed, heeled, boot-sandals.

Once she was downstairs, they headed for the garage, and took off towards town on Sasuke's motorcycle. After he had reached her house he gave her a quick goodbye and then headed to the skate park; shocked to see more than just Naruto and his friends there. Neji, Lee, Sai, Haku, Shino, and even Temari, hers and Gaara's brother Kankurō, and Gaara were there. _'What the hell is going on?'_

Sasuke got off of his bike and made his way to the large group. Everyone had formed a circle around Naruto, but no one was fighting.

"It's not funny!" Neji yelled.

"No, you're right, this isn't funny," Haku said. "This is hilarious!"

"Stop making fun of me!" Naruto said angrily.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked as he entered the group. Thirteen people was a lot more than there needed to be.

"Apparently, little Naruto had a date with Hinata," Temari told Sasuke.

"It wasn't a date," Naruto retorted.

"You ate pizza and talked with each other, alone, for a couple of hours," Chōji said.

"And she confessed her love for you," Kankurō added with a laugh.

"That's called a date," Shikamaru said.

"You hear that?" Kiba asked Naruto obnoxiously. "That's the sound of a genius telling you what's up."

Naruto rolled his eyes, not going unnoticed by Sai. "Do you not want it to be a date?" Sai asked.

"W-well, I mean. I suppose I don't mind the idea of it… being… a date…" Naruto said, blushing.

"Well then what is the problem Naruto-san? You should be congratulating yourself and embracing your youth with young Hinata-sama," Lee said excitedly.

"No he should not!" Neji continued to yell.

"I don't know how to be in a relationship with a girl though," Naruto complained.

"You're not in a relationship with her," Neji threw in, but was ignored.

"I can teach you how to be in a relationship," Haku said; a big smile on his face as he knelt down beside Naruto and took both of his hands into his own. He was determined. "I've had loads of experience with Zabuza."

"Yeah, and when you two actually become official I might be willing to take your advice, but so far it seems that Zabuza isn't ready to do that yet," Naruto said. Haku through his hands down and stood up, crossing his arms, and stomping away.

"Temari could probably teach you," Shikamaru offered. "She's a girl so she can give perspective from the female point of view."

"No she should not," Neji put in.

"Temari?" Kankurō laughed. "She doesn't know the first thing about dating, or what she would want, let alone what a woman wants."

Temari punched his head. "Shut up!"

"Maybe if one of us had actually been in a relationship we'd be able to help you," Sai said.

"I'm in a relationship."

Everyone stopped bickering with each other on how to help Naruto and turned to stare at Gaara.

"You've had a girlfriend?" Kiba asked. To say he, or any of the others, was shocked would be an understatement.

"I currently have a girlfriend; two in fact," Gaara said.

"No offence Gaara, but I don't think you'll be able to help Naruto," Chōji said, trying to be as nice about the whole thing as possible.

"And why's that?" Gaara asked; a frown forming.

Sasuke stepped forward. "Having two girlfriends puts you on a whole other level. Whatever advice you give him would be too much for him to understand."

The majority of the group began nodding and murmuring in agreement, though whether they were agreeing that Naruto wouldn't understand, or just aiding Sasuke in buttering up Gaara was a tossup.

"This is boring me," Gaara said, continuing to speak in a low, raspy drawl. He turned away from the circle and started to walk away, his siblings disappointedly following behind him.

"You've got a lot to prove before you get on my good side," Neji told Naruto, glaring at him before leaving. Sai smiling to Naruto and Sasuke and Lee giving Naruto a thumbs-up before they followed behind.

Shino, who had stayed quiet, walked to Naruto. "I just wanted to say that you better not hurt her." He too, then walked away.

"Why not have Sasuke give you advice? It might have been for a short time but he was dating Sakura," Chōji said.

"Hey, yeah! That sounds like a good idea. I need to talk to Itachi anyway," Naruto agreed.

Sasuke accepted the idea and he and Naruto headed to his bike. If Naruto wanted to talk to Sasuke, they'd have to go back to his house, plus, he didn't want to open up about dating tips with the others around.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke cursed under his breath once they arrived back at the house. Itachi's car was there, and sure enough, the moment Sasuke's foot touched the ground Itachi came barreling out of the house.

"Get inside my car," he yelled to Naruto. The voice he used was so savage that Naruto didn't question anything. He walked quickly to the car and hopped into the front passenger seat. Itachi grabbed Sasuke by his hair and pulled him into the house.

"Damnit nii-san, what the fuck is your problem?" Sasuke yelled as Itachi threw him inside.

"I don't understand why you don't listen to me." Itachi said. "You just make me so frustrated." He turned to leave the house, presumably to take Naruto home, but Sasuke got to him first. He grabbed Itachi's shoulder and turned him around before punching him in the face.

"How's that for frustrating? Asshole," Sasuke said. Itachi grabbed Sasuke's arm and threw him into the door, pinning him to it with his arm behind his back. Sasuke threw his free arm behind his head; reaching back to Itachi, and grabbing his hair. He yanked Itachi's head to the side, freeing himself from the door, but Itachi brought his hands up to Sasuke's hand, forcing it off of his hair, then he quickly brought his hands down the length of Sasuke's arm.

Once at a good spot, Itachi gripped Sasuke's arm and put his body weight into one good hurl as he tossed Sasuke, head first, into a small coffee table. Sasuke staggered for a second and then stood up. He wasn't done yet. He turned, about to run back at Itachi, only to find Tobi blocking his path.

Tobi's arms were held out in front of his body as he faced Itachi. "Leave Sasu-chan alone!"

Itachi glared at Tobi before leaving out the front door, getting into his car, and taking Naruto home.

Tobi turned to look at Sasuke. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner Sasu-"

"That's fine," Sasuke said, wiping some blood from his cheek. His forehead was cut when he hit the coffee table. "I was willing to keep going." He looked at Tobi and hesitated; Madara was now staring at him. Sasuke chanced a glance at one of the mirrors hanging from the wall. Sure enough, blood had run down his forehead and onto his eye before spilling over down his cheek. He could feel it now that he realized. "Shit."

Sasuke took off down the hall, only to have Madara quickly catch up to him. Madara flung him, back first, against a wall. His hand clasped around Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke attempted to struggle out of Madara's grasp but Madara simply squeezed the hand around his throat. Madara's other hand brushed up along Sasuke's cheek, before coming to the eye covered in blood. His index and middle finger brought up Sasuke's top lid, while his thumb pulled down the bottom lid.

Sasuke's eye twitched as it jumped from looking left to right, staring into Madara's eyes.

"See brother…" Madara began to say to himself. "See brother…"

"See what?" Sasuke decided to ask, earning him another choke from the hand around his neck.

"See brother… See brother… I never hurt you. I never hurt you, brother. See? See brother, I never hurt you… Never hurt you… See, I never hurt you, brother." Madara was starting to ramble.

'_Oh my God, what is he going to do to me? He's finally snapped. Completely snapped. Is he going to do it? Is today the day I'm finally going to have one of my eyeballs ripped out of its socket?" _Sasuke was yelling at himself internally while trying to take deep breaths in between Madara's choke hold.

"See brother! It's genetic!" Madara began laughing. "See brother, I never hurt you! It's genetic!" His laughing was turning hysterical and the fingers and thumb holding Sasuke's eyelids were pulling them further apart.

'_C'mon Sasuke, you knew this day was going to come. Just do it!' _Sasuke was trying to will himself to escape. But he still regretted the idea of hurting this sick old man.

"SEE BROTHER, I NEVER HURT YOU! IT'S GENETIC! IT'S GENETIC! I NEVER HURT YOU BROTHER! SEE?" Madara's voice and laugh were getting louder by the second as he continued to lose control. His grip on Sasuke's neck was tightening.

Sasuke couldn't take anymore. It was now or never. He brought one of his feet up and, in one strong thrust, kicked Madara in the gut, as hard as he could. The kick propelled Sasuke back into the wall, and Madara was sent flying to the ground with a loud _thud._

Sasuke was ready to flee if need be, but stayed back to see if Madara was going to be okay or not. Then Madara's body began to shake violently as he laid on the floor.

**xxxxx**

**AN: Yep. That's right. It happened. I'm so friggin tired right now that I only reread this chapter once. (9_9) I'll get to editing it eventually but for now. I don't care. It should be good enough. I just wanted to post it after staying up so late to write it. Hope u enjoyed~  
**


	14. Torture

**Warnings: Foul language. Alternative Universe.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 14: Torture  
**

**xxxxx**

"So that's what happened." Naruto and Itachi were parked in the driveway connected to Iruka's house.

Itachi sighed for a second. Finally, a relationship between two high-schooler's that he could deal with. Naruto had just finished explaining to him about what occurred the night he visited with Hinata.

"This kind of situation is really simple," Itachi started to say. "You already know she likes you, so she's not going to turn you down if you ask her out. Now all you have to do is decide if you really want to date her and be in a relationship with her, then… Ask her out." He smirked at Naruto.

"It shouldn't be this easy though," Naruto mumbled.

"Life doesn't always have to be hard, Naruto." Itachi paused for a moment. "If you feel like it should be harder than this, then maybe you feel guilty about asking her after her confession. Try taking her on a romantic date or something to make up for it and to show her you're serious."

"Ha! With what money?" Naruto chuckled bitterly.

Itachi sighed again. "If anything, just hang out with her more and then wait until you just _feel_ like the moment is right."

Naruto glanced at Itachi. "I could do that."

Naruto then gave Itachi a quick 'thanks' and left the car, heading for the front door to his house. He was feeling a little uneasy around the older Uchiha brother. Itachi's aura had been radiating a strong angry and disapproving feeling. It had died down by the end of their conversation, but Naruto still didn't want to risk pissing him off again by asking what was wrong.

**xxxxx**

Itachi backed out of the driveway and then started driving home. While he was talking with Naruto, his phone started ringing, but he ignored it. Now he was checking to see who had called him. _'Sasuke?'_

Itachi still wasn't in the mood to talk to him, so he continued to ignore the missed call, when he got home however, the door was open and there was blood on the floor. And he couldn't find Sasuke or Madara anywhere. He dialed Sasuke's cell number to see what he wanted and to figure out what was going on.

After several rings, Sasuke's voice mail came on. Itachi hung up before leaving a message. He was about to redial Sasuke's number but then noticed he had a new voice mail. He dialed his answering machine and listened to the recording. His younger brother's words were cut off by the sound of sirens. Itachi could barely make out what Sasuke was trying to say.

"-tachi, why didn't you…. ,,,,, ,,,,, phone. Gramps… … … I called the.. …. …. be at the… …. Meet us.. …. Hurry!"

Not knowing where to go and knowing that Sasuke wouldn't answer his phone, Itachi decided to turn to start driving to the police station. Since there were sirens in the background, he figured the police would be involved.

**xxxxx**

"We finally got the results of our x-ray in. It appears that the large growth in your grandfather's head has finally reached his limit. Unfortunately, we don't suspect he'll have a lot of time."

Sasuke stared blankly at the doctor in front of him.

"We have him on a strong dose of pain medication, so he won't feel anything when he finally passes. He conscious and we told him everything, so, if you'd like, you can go and visit with him for his final moments." The doctor turned and walked away.

Sasuke took in a deep breath of air. Held it. Then slowly released it. Then he did it again.

He stood up and headed for the room that Madara was contained in.

"Sasuke." Madara said as Sasuke entered the room and sat down on a chair next to his bed. "I'm sorry about all of the pain I've caused you. I'm in a stable enough mind, due to the meds, to tell you everything now."

Sasuke braced himself; prepared to learn everything.

"When I was younger, I was in the army. In war even. Both me, and my younger brother, Izuna, were sent into an enemy nation as spies. Our homeland hoped we could scope out the enemy and get valuable information. It was a risky mission, because we knew our own amount of secrets, but we worked well as a team so the risk was taken.

"We had secured plans, formulated a strategy, infiltrated the main base, and then we were captured. The enemy had known all along who we were, and set us up.

"We were taken to the torture chamber."

Sasuke's eyes widened a little. He had never heard of Izuna before, except for when Madara was chanting, and he realized he was about to find out why. He hated knowing that he wasn't going to like the reason.

"The torture wasn't what we were expecting. It was hell; as it should have been." Madara gripped into the blanket that was covering him with both of his hands. "They knew how much we loved each other. We were brothers. I'm sure, because you have Naruto and Itachi, that you can understand how much this would have affected us. Hurt us; me mentally and him physically."

Sasuke gulped.

"They made me hurt him, in so many different ways; with strange contraptions, and whips, and blades, and acid. I was forced to torture my brother, with my own hands. I almost broke and gave them their information just so they'd let me stop, but Izuna wouldn't let me. In some ways, he was stronger than I was.

"It came to a point where they finally made me do the truly unthinkable. They forced me to rip his eyes out with my own hands." Madara raised a hand up and stared at it. "With my own fingers. I wasn't going to, but Izuna said he'd never forgive me, so I did. Then his body finally shut down and he stopped feeling pain. He stopped feeling anything."

"D-did he die?" Sasuke whispered.

Madara nodded his head. "They never hurt me, at least, not on that level. They kept me their prisoner until the end of the war, and then sent me home when the war was over. I was told it was because they thought it was more of a torture for me to live knowing that I did that to my own brother, then for me to die feeling justified. They were right.

"When I returned home, I was hoping to be treated as a war hero. I was hoping to feel warm and loved and cared for, to make up for all of the pain, but someone had told my family about what I did. None of them wanted anything to do with me. I was left alone.

"I was trapped within a shell of a body, hoping to reach out to anyone and anything, trying to make myself live through every day, alone. And, eventually, that's how Tobi came to be."

Madara looked from his hand to Sasuke, slowly transitioning to Tobi.

"And then, at some point, you came into my life. You were scared and needed someone, and that someone was me. And you look so much like Izuna! It was like having my baby brother back! I tried to convince myself, brainwash myself, that I had never done those things to him. But then, why did my family hate me? Why wouldn't they talk to me? Did he feel the same way? And then you were in my life. And everything started to get better; even if only a little, having you around meant the world to me. I love you, Sasuke."

Tobi smiled and leaned back into his bed; his heart-monitor slowing, until it failed completely.

Sasuke sat speechless, continuing to stare at his grandfather's lifeless body. Before he knew it, a hand had come to rest on his shoulder. He turned to see Itachi standing behind him. Sasuke could tell by Itachi's expression that his brother had literally just showed up, and hadn't heard anything.

How was he going to explain what had just happened?

**xxxxx**

**AN: I say that I plan on having this chapter up by the end of the week and then I put it up on Sunday -_- I'll say that I was going by British weeks. Those start on Monday's right? Then I should still be in the clear :D Unfortunately, this chapter is also pathetically short. :( I could have just combined it with the next one but I wanted to single this event out. I haven't even read through it. I just wanted to get it up here. Hopefully when I go through it I'll add things in more detail, but I suck at the small detail-thingys. Ugh I'm lazy. And this AN is long. I'm out-a-here! ~  
**


	15. At a Wake

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: I can't believe how long it took to put this chapter out, but now I'm all into my Shaman King fanfic and I told my self "No AnJ! You aren't allowed to write your Shaman King fic without updating WoB!" So now I have a whole schedule written out for when I'm working on what story. I'm hoping to update WoB on Mondays but if things change I'll mention it on the next update. Also, I'm thinking that this story is going to end around chapter 25ish. Once I figure that out more I'll try to re-officiate in another update.****  
**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 15: At a Wake  
**

**xxxxx**

Sunday

"I called Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi yesterday and told them what happened." Itachi was standing outside Sasuke's bedroom door. His little brother had locked himself in his room. He had pounded on the door and jiggled the door knob but Sasuke told him he wanted to be left alone.

"Otouto, please get dressed." Sasuke could hear Itachi sighing, tired and exasperated from yesterday's event. "We're going to have Madara's memorial service today, so please, just come out of your room long enough to attend. We're all going to be here to support you."

Silence was all Itachi was given. He moved his hand up to his head, rubbing his temple as he pulled his cell phone out and started walking away from Sasuke's room. His phone rang for several minutes until Kakashi answered.

"Hello?" Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-sensei, I don't know what to do. Is there any way you could come over sooner?" Itachi said as he sat in a chair.

"I'll try to get there earlier if I can," Kakashi said.

"Thank-you." He shut his phone and then opened it again, making another call.

**xxxxx**

Naruto was sitting with Hinata on a bench at the skate park when his phone started to ring. He answered it quickly once he saw that it was Itachi.

"Hey?" He said.

"Naruto, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you please come here earlier?" Itachi said. He sounded desperate. "Sasuke is in a bad state."

"Of course; I'll be there as soon as possible," Naruto said. Hanging up the phone, he turned to face Hinata. "I'm sorry Hinata. See, Sasuke's grandpa died yesterday and he's not doing too well so I have to go over there and check on him.

"Oh my! I-I'm so sorry Naruto-kun," Hinata said.

"Yeah. I found out yesterday and called him. Itachi thinks he's depressed that no one is really going to be at his memorial let alone his funeral. Madara never got out much so he didn't know a whole lot of people. Personally I think Sasuke is just upset that his grandpa's dead; but his grandpa was such an asshole so I don't really understand it."

Naruto stood up and left for Itachi's house; it'd take him half an hour to get there on his skate board but that was all right. Hinata watched him leave, determination on her face.

******xxxxx**

Naruto pounded on Sasuke's bedroom door in a similar fashion to Itachi. "Sasuke! Open up!" He snarled and through his body against the door; the thick wood splintered slightly.

"Leave the door alone dobe! Itachi won't forgive you if you break it." Sasuke's voice was horse and distant.

"Then come out here," Naruto said. "You've been locked in your room all day. This wake is only going to happen once and everyone is here already. Do you really want to miss it?" Naruto and Kakashi had arrived at the Uchiha manor hours ago, but neither of them had been able to get Sasuke out of his room, now it was evening and their friends were waiting for the _show_ to start.

Sasuke grumbled to himself as he crawled out of bed. He hadn't eaten all day and his sudden movement was reminding him just how hungry he was. He was drained of energy, his hair was disheveled, and dark, heavy bags had formed under his eyes. Nearly toppling over, he pulled a pair of jeans on and then scanned the room for a shirt.

"_Fuck it," _he thought, and left the room topless.

"You look terrible," Naruto said as Sasuke walked passed him, heading downstairs. Itachi had told Sasuke earlier that the wake would be held in a large meeting-type room on the east side of the manor, so after a rude grunt to Naruto, he walked in that direction.

He barely concentrated on his surrounding, tired from nightmares that had kept him up all night and his stomach screaming in pain from starving himself, his gaze was heavily dazed and unfocused. His head pounded as voices surrounded him. Too many people were speaking. He wasn't even sure where all these people came from, he thought they were people at least. He could only make out blurs from the forms around him and kept his head down, forcing himself to move forward and continue through the house.

He entered the meeting-like room and headed for the coffin towards the back, passing rows of pews that had been set up to face the coffin. He peered into the casket and gazed down at Madara's face. A tear slipped out of his eye as he watched his grandfathers lifeless body lay there for what seemed like almost an eternity. Once Sasuke acknowledged, finally, that Madara wouldn't be waking up, he turned back around, surprised to see everyone who had filled into the room after him.

Sasuke was seeing the ghosts of his past. In the front row sat his mother and father. In the following rows were his family and distant relatives. A room of similar looking people with black or brown hair, except for the few relatives who were graying or just had different genetics, dozens of pairs of black eyes; he hadn't seen his family in such a long time. But why were they all here? He thought they hadn't cared about Madara. Then, for the first time, he noticed Itachi sitting next to their mom. Naruto was sitting next to Itachi.

The room was becoming blurred again, like Sasuke was about to cry once more. As he tried to focus he realized that Sakura had taken the place of his mom and Kakashi had taken the place of his dad. _"I must have been hallucinating…" _Sasuke thought to himself as he realized that his family wasn't there but instead the room was filled with people from his school. Itachi's friends Sasori and Deidara were sitting in the back with a few of Itachi's friends that Sasuke didn't know too well. Sasuke's many teachers, as well as Tsunade and Naruto's adoptive father, Iruka were sitting either in the front or second rows. And in the rows in between were all of his friends or kids he generally got along with in school.

Sakura stood from her spot on the pew and walked up to him. She brushed her hand across his forearm and then embraced him in a short-lived, but soothing, hug.

"Sasuke," She said. "I know that you're probably confused at the moment, and you're right, we aren't all here for your grandfather…" She paused and then kissed him gently on the cheek. "But we are here for you. If there's anything you want to say about him so we can understand him on a level like yours then feel free. We're all willing to listen."

He nodded his head and thanked her awkwardly before she headed back to her seat. He cleared his throat and then looked back at his audience. What was he supposed to say? He hadn't expected such a crowd, or that he'd have to give a speech even. Before he could think more clearly, the words were already coming out of his mouth.

"When I first looked back into this room, I saw the ghosts of all my family members, but then, as I tried to focus on them they were distorted by all of you. Initially I was angry, but now I realize that in a sense, you are also my family.

"I know that a lot of you are wondering why I thought so highly of Madara." Sasuke paused briefly for a quick breath and to look at Naruto and Itachi. "After my family was killed I felt alone and betrayed. It was a stupid accident caused by my brother, and now my family was dead and my brother was taken away from me. I didn't know who to turn to and then I was being handed over to this man who I had never met before.

"I was quiet at first. Barely speaking or eating. Hadn't my mother taught me not to talk to or take food from strangers? Then I realized that she was never coming back and if the cops expected me to live with this man than I might as well comply. Madara was so patient with me…" Images of his younger self were flooding back into Sasuke's mind. Times when he had first met Madara and he was hiding from him all around the manor, watching him from around the edges or walls and hesitantly eating the meals Madara would prepare.

"Then one day, I broke down and Madara just sat there, holding me. Listening to me. I let loose. I screamed and fought and bit and threw things. I let out all the stress and frustration in one very violent episode. I still felt hurt, but after that I was a lot more open to Madara.

"I guess he started changing more after he didn't have to dedicate so much of his attention on my well being. Since I was finally starting to make progress he became more closed off. Rules started changing and so did my way of life, still, he was never violent with me. At least, not like how he was these past few years.

"I knew that Naruto was there for me." Now Sasuke was staring at Naruto instead of gazing across the room. "But it just hurt so much to see him and I felt at the time that the only one there for me was Madara. Do you understand a little more why I care for that man?" Naruto nodded his head and Sasuke finished his speech. "He didn't start getting worst until Itachi came back. I think he was scared that I was going to forget about him and only want my brother. I also think he was jealous that after having spent so many years with me, all of a sudden he had to share me. I believe it was those emotions that began to drive him over the edge. Well, that and his tumor."

A soft applause was had as Sasuke moved away from the podium. Sasori, Sai, and Ino were ushering him down the hall and into another room where everyone could visit with him on a more personal level. Some of the crowd was wiping tears from their eyes. Others wanted to empathize with him and tell him everything would be alright.

After half an hour of listening to people feel sorry for him Sasuke started to drown everyone out. The large group, being used to this treatment, took the time to visit one another. Ino grabbed the opportunity presented and found her way back to Sasuke's side; she had been pushed aside by the likes of Karin earlier, who was then shoved away by Sai.

"Sasuke," Ino said, hesitating a little. He nodded in her direction. "So how are you feeling?"

"Miserable and exhausted," he said.

"So many things are changing recently," Ino said. Sasuke looked at her quizzically and she grabbed his hand and hung on to it. "Did you know I used to have a huge crush on you?"

"Used to huh?" Sasuke said nonchalantly. "Sure you still don't?"

"I could never do that to Sakura," Ino said. "She was so hurt after you ran away from her that night she confessed to you."

That was the last thing Sasuke wanted to think about, but now the time he had abandoned Sakura after she revealed her heart to him was coming back all over again. Along with all the games he and Itachi had been playing with her. He shook the thoughts out of his head. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"…" Ino looked at him perplexed.

"She wants to go to college and become a doctor or whatever, but staying here isn't what I want. I'm not interested in a relationship because I don't plan on sticking around after school." He gave Ino a tired and pleading look. "Please don't say anything." He hadn't meant to let that slip.

From the back of the room, Sakura, who had been watching Ino and Sasuke talked, decided that she was too uncomfortable to be near him and sneaked away from the boisterous crowd of people, heading to her car so she could drive home. Meanwhile, Itachi had grabbed Sai and dragged him out of the crowded room as well. He had Sai pinned against a hallway wall far away from the room.

"Tell me where you and Sasuke were Thursday," Itachi said; his voice deep and steady, his eyes penetrating Sai's mind and will.

In the garden that surrounded the back of the manor, Naruto and Hinata were enjoying the cool breeze. It had grown too stuffy for them in the room. Naruto looked at Hinata, who was wearing a flattering, but discrete black dress, and awkwardly brushed her hair behind her ear, grabbing her full attention. He kept his hand on her chin.

"You have no idea how thankful I am that you got so many people together like this for Madara's service," Naruto said.

Hinata smirked and said, uncharacteristically, "I have a lot of connections." Then her voice fell back into its usual stutter. "B-besides Naruto… I'd d-do a-anything to help you."

Naruto smiled again and brought his lips to hers. Though their first kiss was after a wake, Naruto figured that outside, in the gardens, at night, and under a beautiful full moon, was about as romantic as he could get, and he didn't want to miss the opportunity.

**xxxxx**

**AN: Next installment should be on Monday. Oh and hey, Happy Holidays everyone :D  
**


	16. Who am I?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: I'm bored so I'm submitting this a day early. I've read over it... once... lol anyway let me know what ya think.. how it goes.. whatevs have fun reading.  
**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 16: Who am I?  
**

**xxxxx**

Monday

She drifted through the morning like a leaf in the wind; being pushed along though her normal morning routine without a thought or care of the matter. Her mind was in a daze as she brushed her teeth and combed her hair. _'It's getting longer,'_ she thought as she braided a small section of hair and tucked her bangs behind an ear with the help of a barrette.

Looking about the drawers of her dresser absentmindedly, she pulled out a simple outfit, jeans and a plain red t-shirt, and changed out of her pajamas. She grabbed her bag, checked that all her books and school work was in it, and headed downstairs. As usual her parents weren't home, both having to work early in the morning. Her father did general work for the government; like filing paperwork and making schedules, and her mother was a member of a _moms club_ so she was always away working on new events and charities or drives.

After blankly eating a bowl of cereal, she grabbed her stuff and headed for her car, ready as she'd ever be for a new day at school. But she didn't feel right. Not today. After leaving the wake early yesterday, Sakura wasn't sure what was wrong, but she felt empty and closed off.

Seeing Sasuke so hurt the day before had really opened her eyes. She felt fake and wondered what kind of person she really was. She wondered who would shine through if she stripped away all the lying and games she had been playing on everyone.

As she continued on, she wondered if she really knew who Naruto and Sasuke were. At one point in her life she thought that her, Sasuke, and Naruto had a bond. Or had that all been in her head? Sure, she wasn't best-friends with them from the start like they had been, but at one point hadn't she been closer to them than anyone else? She always prided herself for that. Sasuke was the most popular kid at the school, and Naruto was popular too, more because of reputation then because he was cool and attractive, and Sakura was the one who was partnered with them. She was the one who hung out with them after school and did community service or worked on projects with them. She could recount those days; the days when the three of them were part of the group, and the days when they were little kids, before the Uchiha accident.

On the very first day she ever attended school, she remembered meeting her classmates, the people who she had come to know so well now, for the first time. That also included Sasuke and Naruto.

"Okay class, why don't we go around the room and introduce ourselves. We'll say our name, then state our favorite color, and then tell the class something special about ourselves," the teacher said as memories from Sakura's childhood filled into her head. "Why don't you start," the teacher indicated a student to begin.

"H-H-Hinata H-H-Hyuuga… P-purple… C-c-c-c-c-cooking with my m-mom…"

"I'm Ino, and I like blue and I'm awesome at dress-up."

"Ugh… I'm Kiba, I guess red's cool, and I like dogs."

"Shino… Green… Bugs…"

Hmm… My name's Shikamaru. I guess if I had to choose a color I'd pick white. I like sleeping, or generally not doing anything. Watching clouds drift by is fun."

_Crunch, crunch. _"I'm Chōji, I guess I like yellow." _Crunch._ "I like hanging out with Shikamaru."

It was Sakura's turn. "Um… I'm Sakura. I like the color pink… And I guess… … I'm not really sure what I'm good at." Even though the class wasn't laughing at her, too bored by the introductions to really care, Sakura still slinked further into her chair, her cheeks flushed with pink. She wondered why everyone already knew things like what they were good at or liked but she was to unsure.

"My name is Sasuke and I like the color black because it's cool! And I also like policemen! I like them so much that when I grow up I want to be one!" Sakura turned around. Sitting behind her was the most adorable little boy she'd ever seen. With spiky black hair, pearly skin, and eyes and a smile so big and bright she thought she'd die from his overall cuteness. "Hi," he said to her, the large grin still on his face.

"H-hello," Sakura mumbled back, taken away by his energy.

"You want to be my friend Sakura?" Sasuke asked her.

"O-okay."

"Well it looks like we're still missing a student who goes by the name Naruto Uzumaki. Hopefully he'll show up later," the teacher said, bringing their attention back to the front of the class. "Why don't you all start working on a project? You can each start a project that you'll work on periodically throughout the year and then you can take it home."

The students gathered around a large round table and began working on their project. They were each given a large poster sheet and some were drawing, others were gluing glitter and other things on to it, and some were painting. After ten minutes the teacher called for attention from the class, a small boy with blonde hair was standing next to her.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to another new classmate. This is Naruto Uzumaki. Play nicely with him okay?" The teacher said and then left Naruto so he could go work on his own project too.

Sakura remembered Naruto as well as she remembered Sasuke. Naruto was loud and rambunctious. Even his obnoxiously orange pants were loud. Naruto was friendly though but that didn't stop her from disliking him. It's true that he never actually did anything wrong, and she was fine with him on that first day, but she was annoyed by him every day after that.

The difference had been that on the first day of class, Sasuke had spent time with her, but everyday that followed Sasuke only seemed to care about Naruto. She wasn't sure what had happened between the two of them, but they were inseparable and she was jealous of Naruto. She had since grown out of that but it took her a long time.

She was still jealous of Naruto when the three of them had been partnered up. Iruka was their teacher and he made the announcement. "Okay and on Kakashi's team we have Sasuke… Sakura" Sakura's heart had skipped a beat and was now pumping overtime to catch up with itself. "… and Naruto."

'_No! Why? I've finally been given a chance to work with Sasuke and _he_ has to be a part of it? Sasuke doesn't even like him anymore! I bet that after a few days they'll rekindle their friendship and I'll be left alone again!'_ Sakura thought bitterly. Of course, she hadn't been left alone initially. When she was in preschool and Sasuke started hanging out with Naruto, Sakura just hung out with Ino and Hinata instead.

After a few years or so Ino and Sakura had a huge fight over Sasuke, who by this point had become broody and distant from everyone and the two of them ended their friendship; it left them both feeling terribly lonely because they went from having each other to having no one. That was why they were both happy when Iruka had announced the group project, at least then they'd be around people after school for a change.

Sakura was wrong about Naruto and Sasuke though. Suddenly being forced to hang out with one another so often had caused the two of them to become worst. They were always fighting each other. Yelling and cursing at one another. Punching and kicking and throwing objects. It seemed that with each activity they attended, blood was always shed, and the teachers barely did anything to intervene. Neither of them was punished and Sakura was left wishing that they would ignore her and become best-friends again so that there wouldn't have to be so much carnage.

Then, a few weeks into their next year, it was all over. Sasuke's brother was back and Sasuke and Naruto were back to being glued to the hip.

Sakura had to fight herself from crying. She was in class for crying out loud. _'Keep it together Sakura.'_

She was ripping herself in half trying to understand them. Their friendship was so strong. Sasuke's and Naruto's friendship only ended because it hurt Sasuke to see Naruto after what happened to him, and to a degree, Naruto understood that. That's why they were able to rekindle their friendship so easily; because they had always been friends deep down. The fact that Naruto was so willing to take Sasuke's abuse was proof of that.

But then Sakura looked at herself and her past and actions. She and Ino had ended their friendship soon after Naruto and Sasuke had. But over what? While Sasuke's reason was almost meaningful, Ino and Sakura had cut each other off because they were both after Sasuke's heart. Sakura was disgusted just thinking about it. Of all the reasons to end a friendship they had chose the most selfish one. Neither of them had even considered Sasuke's feeling on the matter.

And where did it leave them? Even now, neither of them was dating Sasuke. Sure, they were friends now, but Sakura had to wonder how close they even were. Their bond was nothing like Naruto's and Sasuke's. Hell, just a little over a week ago Sakura was flaunting the fact that she and Sasuke were _dating_, because she was blackmailing him, to Ino's face, trying to make her jealous.

Sakura felt like the worst person on earth.

Trying to find some good in herself, Sakura remembered the good times she had with Naruto and Sasuke. Moments in their history when Kakashi had taken them fishing and camping. Those random days when Kakashi never even bothered to show up and the three of them were forced to do stuff on their own. As long as Sasuke wasn't in a bad mood and Naruto wasn't as hyperactive as usual then they all generally had a good time. The group never talked much, or it was just Naruto and Sakura talking while Sasuke stayed with them in silence, but Sakura could always tell by the way Sasuke moved his head, placed his arms, or transitioned his body weight, that he was having a good time.

Of course she had to go and ruin all of that though. The night of the dance she dumbly confessed her love to him. For the longest time, it seemed, they had been hanging out after school in between his time with Orochimaru and her time with Tsunade. It had stopped abruptly after Orochimaru had bit Sasuke on the neck, but those days, coupled with their times in class and the previous summer, left Sakura feeling sure that Sasuke felt the same way she did.

She was wrong of course. Another selfish act on her part. She had gone so far that he ran away scared, and what was she expected to do? Go back to school and try to act like nothing happened. It seemed like after that Sasuke didn't want to face her and tried to avoid her as best as he could. Or was she the one distancing herself? She couldn't remember anymore. Sakura was so depressed in the days following her confession that her memory was a little fuzzy to what had happened. All she remembered was feeling that he rejected her because she wasn't good enough, so she planned on changing herself. Over the next couple of years she went through a metamorphosis until she became the girl she is now.

The girl who blackmails people and toys with their feelings and emotions.

She had hurried to the bathroom and threw up in a toilet. Her school lunch squeezing and forcing itself out of her stomach and into the nearest toilet bowl; the bell chiming in the distance, signaling the end of lunch.

'_How could I become such a person? How could I think that this is the kind of woman he wanted?' _Sakura thought to herself. It's no wonder he declined her. Sasuke probably saw this conniving bitch hiding within her from a mile away. Sakura hated herself. What was she supposed to do? How could she take it all back? She was still selfish though because in the end she wanted them to be together. _"Maybe he'd forgive me if I loved him from a distance… Like Hinata does with Naruto… I wish I could be stronger like Hinata. I always thought she was weak to not go after what she wanted, but it takes more self-restraint to resist what you want so badly. I just wish I could go back to the days when Sasuke would at least say—"_

"Hi…"

"…_to me…"_ Sakura looked up and found that she had been walking to her car. School was over and she wasn't consciously aware about it. Sasuke was standing in front of her, blocking her path, a perplexed look on his face. She felt her cheeks go red as she tried to force words to form, but nothing came out.

"You seem kind of out of it today. You alright?"

Tears were beginning to well up at the corner of her eyes and Sakura hugged her body. Even now, after thinking that Sasuke hated her, he was here asking if she was alright.

"Hey!" Sasuke said, shocked that she was on the verge of crying. "Calm down Sakura. Look. Uh… You want to go on a ride with me?" He was pointing his thumb over his shoulder, towards his motorcycle.

"Okay," Sakura mustered out.

Sasuke sighed, relieved that she hadn't started crying after all. The two of them walked to his bike as Sakura brushed away one single tear that had slipped out. After climbing onto the bike, they sped off towards the skate park. Sakura was partially surprised, she had half expected to go on some long journey or to actually just drive around for a bit; she bullied herself for thinking _selfish _thoughts again.

Sakura was about to dismount but noticed Sasuke making no attempt to get off so she stayed. She could hear Naruto and his friends skating a little ways away.

"Sometimes I just like to sit here and think," Sasuke explained.

"Why here?" Sakura said.

"I guess because I'm comfortable since this is my bike, I'm alone because everyone's skating, and if I need anyone, not that I ever have, they're all right over there waiting for me to join them." Sasuke nodded towards the noise that Naruto and his friends were making.

"It sounds like there's a lot more people over there than usual," Sakura said.

"Well yea, now that Hinata and Naruto are seeing each other she's hanging out with him and Neji and his friends are trying to intervene.

"When did that happen?" Sakura gasped.

"At Madara's wake, probably after you left," Sasuke said shrugging.

"I guess now even Naruto wouldn't want to date me," Sakura said mumbling. Then she sunk further into her depressed mindset for having more selfish thoughts. She wasn't even interested in Naruto like that anyway.

Sasuke chuckled and threw a hand on top of her head, messing up her hair. She was about to snap at him but he suddenly stopped and got serious. "When they all died I was really worked up about it. I felt so selfish for wanting them back and to not want to be with Madara. And I kept kicking myself for the way I was treating Naruto but I would just get so angry that I'd lash out at him without thinking. And after I had acted like that for so long I couldn't bring myself to stop and that hurt too." He paused a moment and noticed Sakura staring at him intently, waiting for him to finish. "When Itachi came back I felt like I was out of options so I admitted to Naruto that Itachi was back, just to see what he would do. He pulled me back to his friend-ship so effortlessly that I realized no matter how tough times are, there's always someone near you who wants to be there for you and help."

They finally climbed off his bike and started to make their way to the skate park. As Sasuke sat beside Hinata on one of the park benches, and Sakura sat beside Sasuke, Sakura realized she was feeling a lot better. Sasuke's random story helped her realize that even he acts selfishly. And beyond all her worries, here she was hanging out with the group, Sasuke included. All of them having fun and laughing whenever Naruto or one of his friends crashed or fell off their boards.

Sakura sneaked a glance at Hinata. Hinata was so bright and cheerful, different then her normally shy demeanor, a cheerful smile on her face. Sakura turned back to watch the boys and found herself feeling happy that Hinata, someone who tried so hard to not burden the guy she loved the way Sakura had, had finally started seeing Naruto. She felt Hinata deserved him and she definitely felt that Naruto deserved someone who would treat him with as much respect as Hinata would.

**xxx**

**AN: Well now. Didn't mean to ship NaruHina so hard there at the end but it seemed like something Sakura would reflect on so there. :)  
**


	17. A Little Secret

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: So here's chapter 17, out 2 days early. Yea... I'm running behind on my Shaman King and Pokemon fics so I thought I'd get this written before I was late on it too, since it has a much larger following then the other two stories. I'll be working on the other stories tomorrow and possibly Monday to get my self caught in time for my Wednesday release. So this chapter... yea... lot's of questions opened up but that's alright because the story isn't over yet ;P **

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 17: A Little Secret**

**xxxxx  
**

Tuesday

Sasuke had lived within the manor for nine years. He knew the ins and outs of the large building; aware of the drawer that squeaked irritatingly on the third floor in the bedroom near the bathroom; was able to navigate through the garden maze that had, since his childhood, now become a forest of overgrown hedges that was overrun by spider webs. He knew of the secret hallway from Madara's room into the attic. And, of course, he had memorized the placement of every floorboard that ached to rat him out to his older brother.

Careful where he stepped, Sasuke walked briskly down the main hallway on the second floor; edging passed Itachi's room, and carefully opening the door to what was once Madara's room. This door was unique in that you had to force it open quickly by about three inches and then slowly force it to roughly halfway open if you wanted to enter the room without making a noise. Sasuke had done this plenty of times in his youth when he would wake up from a nightmare and wanted to be comforted by the sounds of Madara's heavy breathing from being asleep; the sound reminded his of his father.

'_I'm in…'_ Sasuke thought as he quickly shut the door again, following the same method he had to open it.

The room hadn't been entered since Madara's death. Despite the old man's personality, both his angry chaotic side and his goofy childish side, his room was nearly perfect. The sheets and blankets wrapped under the bed so tight that there weren't any creases, the pillows were fluffed and positioned decoratively, every painting and picture hanged in perfect alignment, and the desk was spotless.

'_It still smells like him,' _Sasuke thought bitterly. He wanted to get out of this room as soon as possible. He didn't want to remember Madara right now, but he needed to get into the safe Madara had hidden within his personal bathroom, so Sasuke moved further into the bedroom.

Sasuke had known the combination to the safe's lock since he was twelve. U-C-H-I-H-A wasn't hard to figure out and as he turned the dial on the safe he wondered how a man who had once been a high ranking Intel Specialist could have such a simple password. The metal door to the box clicked lightly and Sasuke pulled the heavy door open. He bent down to stare more into the box. The safe was filled with bundles of money, all collected in a little heap. Sasuke reached a hand inside and pulled out a few bills.

'_¥45,000 should be enough for now. It's not a lot, but with Itachi watching my every move it's probably the best I can manage for now.'_ Sasuke closed the safe abruptly and placed the yen into his back pocket. He opened the bathroom door and stopped suddenly.

"Do you miss Madara so much that you needed to come use his bathroom and not flush the toilet otouto?" Itachi asked. He was sitting on the edge of Madara's bed, causing the comforter to wrinkle from his weight; this irritated Sasuke. Sasuke stared back at him blankly. He had been caught in the act and wasn't sure what to say; his silence pushed Itachi to continue. "What did you take from the safe?"

"Nothing," Sasuke said, his voice monotone and unwavering. "I wanted to see if he left a will."

Itachi and Sasuke watched each other for several seconds, hoping the other would falter.

"Fine," Itachi said. "I suppose I can understand that."

"Oh nii-san, don't tell me you think I'd actual steal money from my dear dead grandfather," Sasuke chided, a sinister smirk forming on his lips. "I can't believe you'd think so low of me. Now if you don't mind, I need to get ready for school." Sasuke brushed past Itachi and had just passed through the doorway when he looked over his shoulder and added, "Shouldn't you be heading to school by now? I thought you were substituting for a teacher today."

'_Cheeky punk,' _Itachi thought bitterly as Sasuke walked back down the hallway. Itachi stood and headed for the safe, wondering if Sasuke would come back and taunt Itachi again for not trusting him. Once the door to the safe was open, Itachi changed the password and then glanced at the pile of cash. Instantly he noticed that one of the wads was smaller than the others. He sighed and closed the safe door, deciding not to say anything to Sasuke. He was probably just doing this because he was depressed over Madara's death.

He left Madara's room, closing the door behind him, and headed downstairs and to his car. About halfway to the school, Itachi realized that he had forgotten the notes he prepared for today's class. Cursing under his breath, he made a U-turn at the nearest intersection and headed back to the house. After coming to another red light Itachi's jaw dropped. Sasuke sat on his motorcycle, across the street from Itachi, and instead of driving straight towards the school; he turned right, heading out of town. _'What's he doing?'_

Itachi flipped his blinker switch, and when the light turned green, followed Sasuke out of town; leaving enough distance between them so that Sasuke never realized.

**xxxxx**

'_Thank God Itachi had to go to school early. I don't know what he would have done if I tried ditching class in front of him, but today is the only day this week that Hiko can meet with me.'_ Sasuke thought as he sped down the highway. Time seemed to drag on the longer Sasuke drove, his palms were getting sweaty and his mouth was dry. His nerves overwhelmed him even more as he pulled up to the curb of Hiko's house. He had met Hiko before, but this was the first time Sasuke had ever met Hiko's mother in person.

He sat on his motorcycle heavily, his hands gripping the handles so hard his knuckles had turned white. Sasuke hesitated and then brought a hand to his forehead, wiping away sweat that had been created both from his nervousness and the heat.

Sasuke sighed heavily; about to pull himself off of his bike and walk up to the door. He had been trying to distract himself from his nerves so his thoughts were filled with his encounter with Itachi this morning. He had heard Itachi creaking back down the hallway several minutes after Sasuke had left and he was sure it was because Itachi had taken the time to change the code on the safe. _'I should have taken the entire wad… or maybe a few of them,' _Sasuke thought, unsure if he would be able to figure out the new password.

His nerves and his thoughts were calmed down as he heard Hiko's familiar laugh in the distance. He turned in the sound's direction and was taken aback by the beauty of a woman. Tall and sturdy, the woman had pearly skin, innocent looking, yet tired, ebony eyes, and long, inky-black hair that reminded him of his mother. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, bangs still framing her face, and she was wearing a tattered apron smudged with dirt.

She stopped mid stride and stared at Sasuke. A frown was on her face but it quickly turned to an understanding sort of smile. She beckoned for Sasuke to come to her with a wave of her hand as a small child raced towards her.

"Sasuke!" The little boy called. He had pearly skin and inky black hair just like his mother. "Look Sasuke! I got mama to do my hair up like yours!" And sure enough Sasuke noticed that the child's hair was spiked up in the back.

"Nice Hiko," Sasuke said to the little boy who was beaming up at him. Sasuke bent down and grabbed Hiko around the waste, lifting him into the air playfully, before turning to Hiko's mother.

"Kasai…" Sasuke began.

"Sasuke-kun, it's okay," the woman named Kasai said.

"No, it's not. I'm so sorry that I never realized you were his mother and he was your son. If I had known all along I would have come to help you sooner," Sasuke said.

"What do you mean by help me?" Kasai said.

Sasuke reached into his back pocket and pulled out the yen. He handed it to Kasai but she declined it immediately.

"When I told you I was pregnant with Hiko I made it clear that I didn't want your money," she said.

"But it's not fair that a selfish teenager like me is loaded with cash and you're stuck raising a child by yourself," Sasuke said.

"I make due. We have enough to survive and get along well enough," Kasai argued.

"But you could—" Before Sasuke could finish his sentence Itachi had whipped the money out of his hands and had a strong hold on Sasuke's arm.

"You better be ready to explain everything to me," Itachi said as he forced Sasuke out of Kasai's and Hiko's front lawn and down to his car.

"Wait? Itachi? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked dumbfounded as Itachi threw him into the car. He was too shocked to pick a fight with Itachi, plus he didn't want to fight in front of Kasai and Hiko anyway. Especially Hiko.

Itachi slammed the car door and sped out of the driveway, heading back home. "Talk. Now."

Sasuke looked down to his hands blankly at first. "They're our family."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Itachi blurted out. "Our family is dead! I killed them remember?"

"Not Kasai. She was eighteen when the accident happened. She wasn't at the reunion because she was moving into a dorm in college."

"Are you really that stupid?" Itachi said. "She's probably a con-artist trying to get money from you."

"No, she isn't. I just tried giving her that money and she wouldn't let me," Sasuke said.

"Good because that along with whatever Madara has in the bank is our inheritance," Itachi said.

"It's hers too! Everyone in the family deserves a portion!" Sasuke said.

"She's not our family!" Itachi yelled.

"Yes she is!" Sasuke yelled back. He gasped for breath. "Aside from Madara's general kindness the only thing that got me out of my depression was the thought that there could be members of our family who are still alive!" Itachi stared at the road quietly. "So far she's the only one I've found but I've been doing nothing but searching for them since I was little. And once I graduate high school I'm going to move in with her and help support their family because they deserve so much more than what they have."

"Then why haven't you told me?"

It was Sasuke's turn to stare out of the window. There it was. The question he had been dreading the most. Why hadn't he told Itachi? Why hadn't he told Naruto? He hadn't even told Madara. If he wanted to reconnect with lost family members so much, why hadn't he shared the family he had found with the people he was supposed to be the closest to?

"She really has you wrapped around her finger doesn't she?" Itachi said.

Sasuke snapped. He punched Itachi in the cheek, causing him to swerve the car before pulling off onto the side of the road. "I hate you Itachi."

Itachi was to flabbergasted by Sasuke's punch to say anything else, so the rest of the drive home was silent, neither of them bothering to at least turn on the radio and both of them dreading any interaction between themselves that was bound to come later.

**xxxxx**

**AN: I've almost got 100 reviews on this thing :D  
**


	18. There for you

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: Alright guys and gals and everyone in between, I'm not begging for reviews here but W.o.B. is 4 reviews away from hitting 100 reviews. ….Mind you most of those reviews are from 3 friends of mine heh heh heh but for the first 4 reviews I get I will write a Naruto one-shot of your choice! So 4 lucky people can go ahead and put in a review along with a little idea-request-thing for a one shot and I will do my best to please each of you. If you don't want the one-shot that's fine I just wanna see this story hit 100. WE'RE SO CLOSE!**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 18: There for you**

**xxxxx**

Tuesday (after the events from the last chapter…)

'_He looks so out of it,'_ Ino thought to herself when Sasuke entered the class she was in. It was fifteen minutes into their third period and the class had been sitting quietly. Iruka, who normally taught in the elementary section of the school, had been forced to supervise the class since their teacher, Kisame, was absent and the substitute, Itachi, hadn't arrived yet.

Itachi stormed into the room behind Sasuke, giving Sasuke a shove towards the desks and telling him to find a seat.

"I understand he's your brother but if you're going to take on the role of a teacher then I will have to ask that you act more professionally," Iruka said.

"My apologies," Itachi said.

"Is everything alright?" Iruka asked. Itachi sighed deeply and ignored Iruka's question, giving the teacher a look that said "please don't ask me about that right now."

Iruka nodded his head and waved good bye to the class, heading back to the elementary section of the school. His kids had been forced to stay with their P.E. teacher, Anko, and he was sure that she was working them to the bone with painstaking exercises or sports play.

Sasuke mumbled his way to his desk, taking the empty seat next to Sakura while Itachi barked out information and instruction to the class.

'_What happened between them?'_ Ino thought as she scribbled notes down as fast as she could. She watched as Sakura attempted to interact with Sasuke to no avail. Sighing, Sakura gave up and took notes as well. Sasuke sat with his cheek on his hand, staring off to the side and paying no visible attention to Itachi. From what Ino could tell, Sakura was worried that he wasn't paying and was scribbling so fast that she was probably making a copy of her notes for Sasuke.

After the bell rang the Uchiha brothers purposefully ignored each other as Sasuke left the classroom for his gym class; Ino following behind him because she had gym next as well. While Guy-sensei made the class do various, some downright silly, exercises, Ino noticed that Sasuke wasn't giving it his all. He wasn't giving the exercises anything at all actually. He just stood there all period. Guy normally would have singled Sasuke out and made him do everything alone but he didn't say anything; more than likely because it had only been three days since Madara had passed.

After gym was lunch and Ino was shocked that Sasuke had sat next to Gaara. He walked over to the scary goth in a daze and slammed his food onto the table before dropping heavily onto the bench. Since Sasuke and Naruto weren't fighting anymore they sat together; one or two days they had sat with Gaara but most days it was at their usual lunch spot, and Gaara himself never cared enough to sit with them, choosing to sit in the same spot every day. It wasn't too unusual for Sasuke to sit there but it was still odd.

Ino herself was sitting off to the side of the lunch yard. Sakura and Hinata had gone to sit with Gaara and Sasuke, soon Naruto and their other friends were joining them but Sasuke didn't react to anyone. He didn't respond when Naruto was telling him loudly about his recent skating endeavor and he didn't do anything when Sai noticeably—and probably jokingly… _maybe_, tried to come on to him.

Ino didn't mean to sit away from her group, but she wanted to observe Sasuke from a far and try to figure out what had happened between him and Itachi while not openly prying into his life. She was sharp at picking up small details when she stood away and tried to guess what they were doing; like placing herself in their shoes and trying to see things from their perspective. She had only been observing them for a few minutes when Chōji came over to her and sat beside her at the table she had picked.

"Observing Sasuke I take it?" Chōji said.

Ino blushed. "You can tell huh?"

"Shikamaru and I both noticed but the others just figure you're studying or something, at least that's what Shikamaru told them. We can all tell that Sasuke's off, just like how we noticed Sakura was yesterday so it wasn't hard to figure out," Chōji said.

"You and Shikamaru know me all too well," Ino said, sticking her tongue out and winking to Chōji. He blushed and looked away from her causing her to laugh out loud.

Chōji coughed and then said, "So what have you deducted?"

"He and Itachi had a fight, but that's obvious," Ino said. "The confusing part is why they were late. Itachi and Sasuke make it a habit to drive to school separately because they have their own plans afterwards, and Itachi likes to get to school really early on days he has to teach. Theoretically they might not have even seen each other on any other morning. I can only deduce that Sasuke tried to ditch school today and somehow Itachi found out."

Chōji chuckled. "You sound like Shikamaru."

"Naw it'd be too much effort for him to think this out. He doesn't care about Sasuke-kun enough anyway." Ino lowered her eyes; Chōji could tell she was upset. "I just can't figure out what was so bad that it took them three hours to get to school."

"This is really upsetting you huh?" Chōji said.

"I'm just… I'm worried about him," Ino said.

**xxxxx**

After school Sasuke ignored Itachi's orders to come home with him, choosing to, of course, go to the skate park with Naruto; borrowing the extra board that Naruto had in his locker.

At the skate park Sasuke rested on a park bench, all care for the world absent from his mind. An hour or so went by and the sun was nearly at the point of beginning its decent to the other side of the earth, when a loud, obnoxious voice echoed around the ramps and pool.

"Oh great, it's the shrew," Kiba muttered. "Shikamaru, you're smart, figure out how to get rid of her."

"I guess I'd rather deal with a nagging woman then a nagging boy," Shikamaru said, mumbling under his breath while Temari walked up to the group. Kiba grunted annoyed.

"I need someone's help," Temari said, explaining her situation to Shikamaru. "Gaara's having an episode and I don't know how to calm him down. It's really bad."

"And what about Kankurō? Can't he help you?" Shikamaru asked.

"I can't find him," Temari said.

"Alright, I guess I don't really have a choice then," Shikamaru said, complying, and following Temari to her car.

As Shikamaru left the group, Chōji decided to talk to Sasuke. "What's wrong?"

"What's it to you?"

Chōji fought his frustration. He and Sasuke never hated each other but they didn't exactly get along either since their personalities were vastly different. "Ino's concerned about you. You're worrying her."

Sasuke stared at a passing cloud, letting Chōji stand next to him uncomfortably for a moment. Then Sasuke stood up, off the bench, and grabbed Naruto's spare skate board. "I think I will go home." He stood upon the skate board and kicked the ground, pushing himself away from Chōji and the others.

Chōji watched Sasuke leave with detest. He disliked Sasuke's attitude, he disliked that Sasuke was able to look cool while riding a skateboard despite the fact that he barely practiced or rode at all, and he really disliked how Sasuke blew off his comment about Ino. Ino was worried about him and, as far as Chōji could tell, he didn't care.

Sasuke sped down the street, preferring to stay in the bicycle lane instead of on the sidewalk. He stood straight as he rode the board, his hands resting relaxed in his pockets. He wasn't the best boarder but he did appreciate his unconditional knack of being able to stay balanced with ease.

As he kicked the ground for more momentum, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed Ino's number; he only had it because at some point a few years ago she had obtained his own number and started texting him frequently. That had since stopped but he still wondered how she's ever got a hold of it. He decided asking her would be a humorous opener to his phone call.

"Hello?" Ino asked. Sasuke could tell she was shocked that he was calling her.

"How did you even get my number?" Sasuke said bluntly.

"Oh uh…" Ino said, trying to remember. "I jacked Karin's phone and took it from there."

"We didn't even know her back then," Sasuke said.

"Just because we weren't in the same class doesn't mean she wasn't going to the same school. Besides she's been stalking you since well before we entered high school," Ino said.

Sasuke shuddered. Sure Karin was cute and he appreciated her awkward hair, it wasn't often he saw a girl so willing to look different, but he was still relatively creeped-out by her obsession with him. "So I heard you're worried about me."

"Who said—," Ino started to say.

"I appreciate the concern but I promise I'm fine. You know, he's a really good guy, going out of his way to try and help you like that," Sasuke said.

"Who—," Ino started to say, interrupted again.

"You know who. Look, I've got stuff to do but I just wanted to call and say that if you're going to worry so much about me that it starts to worry others then maybe you should find yourself a distraction. I'm sure there's something… or someone you could be doing right now…"

"Sasuke!" Ino said, yelling into the phone, flabbergasted.

"Ha ha! Sorry I didn't mean it that way. You know what I mean, later," Sasuke said, ending the call, turning his phone off, and then putting it away as he continued his unnecessarily long skate ride home.

"Jerk," Ino said happily under her breath after the call ended. She was happy that Sasuke went out of his way to call her like that, but that was also part of his recent unusual behavior. Maybe she did need to find a distraction? She thought about Chōji for a moment. Did she want to give it a try? She knew he had liked her since they were kids but she always saw him as a friend. He wasn't really her type either. She frowned as she thought about it longer, having a mental battle with herself and weighing the pros and cons. Finally she decided that she'd just talk to him a little more and maybe see if a spark of some sort came up.

She pressed a few keys on her phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Sakura, I'm not going after Sasuke anymore. He's upset and hurt and acting different and I will no longer be trying to figure out why," Ino said and then ended the call.

"What are you—," Sakura began to say before her phone beeped at her and the call was ended. She looked down at her pink cell phone and decided to call Sasuke but going straight to his voice mail. _'That's odd…'_ She tried again with the same results. She tried one more time but nothing new occurred.

Quickly, she grabbed her keys and rushed to her car, getting inside and driving to the skate park.

"Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto said after she questioned him about Sasuke. "You were with us at lunch, I couldn't get anything out of him, and he just stayed on a bench the entire time we were here."

Sakura mumbled to herself as she got back to the car, deciding she would just drive to the manor and ask him herself. She was fighting back her subconscious which kept telling her she was being selfish and should just leave him alone; but wasn't it okay to be a little selfish when it was for the benefit of others? Naruto didn't seem too interested in trying to help Sasuke, probably to dense to realize that Sasuke was hurting. But Sasuke's grandfather… or whatever he was…. had just died, and he was fighting with Itachi, plus even Ino was concerned, so who did Sasuke even have to turn to?

She banged on the door at the manor but no one came to open it. Finally she gave the handle a try and was surprised that the door opened. Sakura walked into the large house, calling out to either of the Uchiha brothers but not getting an answer. Wondering through the kitchen and back to the living room and down some halls, Sakura tried looking for one of the brothers. Deciding that they probably weren't home she headed for Sasuke's room, figuring that if he was home he would be there, probably listening to music loudly which would explain why he hadn't heard her.

She knocked on his bedroom door but he didn't reply, then she remembered that if he was listening to music he wouldn't have heard her knock either. Sakura turned the handle and opened his bedroom door. He wasn't there. She walked into the room and looked around before grabbing her cell phone and dialing Sasuke's number again. Still no answer. _'Well now what?'_

"You make it a habit to enter a house when the occupants aren't home?" Sasuke said. He was slightly out of breath and mildly sweaty, his hair looked like it had been tossed around roughly by the wind. "I saw you drive by while I was on my way here."

"Where were you?" Sakura said.

"I was the one skating." Sasuke held up the board as proof. "So why are you in here?"

"Sorry," Sakura said, bowing slightly to Sasuke in apology. "I got a call from Ino saying that you were upset but that she wasn't going to try helping you anymore and that I had to."

"That girl," Sasuke said half annoyed and half amused. He noticed the slight jealousy that crept onto Sakura's face as he mentioned Ino.

"So… Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Sakura said.

"Nope," Sasuke said. He grabbed a few text books from his bag and sat at his desk, deciding to do homework. Sakura sighed but then heard the front door open and close; not failing to notice the scowl on Sasuke's face as he heard it too.

"Is… is it about Hiko?" Sakura said. Sasuke buried his face deeper into his text book and she knew she was right. She left his room and headed downstairs to Itachi.

"So you know about Hiko then?" Sakura said to him as he entered the kitchen. He jumped, startled by her sudden appearance.

"How do you know about him?" Itachi snapped. "Why are you even here?"

"I'm here because I'm apparently the only one who's still willing to be there for Sasuke when he needs someone," Sakura snapped back.

"Ha! You? There for him? After you blackmailed him and tried to get with me? That's rich of you." Sakura slumped. He was right after all; but she was different now. "What do you even know about Hiko?"

"What do you think she was able to blackmail me with?" Sasuke said, interrupting them. "Leave her alone, she's was going through a lot too."

"Oh and aren't you just the hypocrite. First you bitch and complain about her and now you're defending her? You're relationship together can't be so misconstrued," Itachi said.

"What do you even know? You're _misconstrued _about our own relationship," Sasuke said.

"Is that why you're going to run away to your little girlfriend's after high school?" Itachi said.

"She's not my girlfriend but yes that's exactly why I'm leaving here to go live with Hiko and Kasai. They deserve a good life and even if you don't want to help them I do!"

"They're strangers trying to peddle our money from you."

"They're our family who have been unintentionally pushed away from the family register and mistakenly disinherited from a sum of money that's rightfully theirs!"

"And you're a fool."

"Enough!" Sakura yelled, snapping the brothers from their argument. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. She knew the journal entry mentioned Sasuke and his feelings for Hiko but he never noted that they were related. Apparently he had gone out of his way to keep that fact as secret as possible, but why? Was Itachi right? Were these two people really just trying to swindle money from Sasuke? She didn't know Hiko's age or anything about Kasai except that she was Hiko's mom. What was going on?

The brothers stared at her, expecting her to say more, but she just wanted them to stop fighting and now that they had she didn't know what else to say.

Sasuke grunted and started walking back to his room. "Come on Sakura."

"O-okay…" She said, giving Itachi a confused look but then followed Sasuke back up the stairs. "Sasuke," she started to say when they entered his room.

"Just leave it alone Sakura. Leave me alone." He said. He walked to his TV and opened the drawer on the stand it was resting on, revealing an Xbox 360. "Want to play Street Fighter?"

"Oh uh okay?" Sakura said. "You'll probably beat me…"

"I'll definitely beat you," Sasuke said and then handed her a controller. "Here."

After several hours of rigorous Street Fighter game play, Sakura somehow managing to win a couple of rounds, they grew tired and Sasuke turned the consol off and crawled onto his bed; Sakura jumping onto the side he left empty.

"You going to be angry if I just sleep here next to you all night?" Sakura said, joking around and hoping that he'd think she was being cute.

"Probably not," Sasuke mumbled as he rolled onto his stomach.

"Why?" Sakura asked. She was surprised and had been certain that he would have grown annoyed by her presence by now.

"It's not like we haven't slept in close proximity before; we did loads of times when we were on that team with Kakashi."

Sakura's phone started to ring and she quickly answered it. "Mom? … … No…. Sorry for not getting a hold of you…. No I'm spending the night at Ino's tonight… you too… good night… yep… bye." She closed her phone and looked back at Sasuke, who had turned his head just enough to look at her through the folds of his pillow. "So you're okay with me staying huh?"

Sasuke sighed. "Like I said, this isn't anything new."

Sakura went back to resting beside him and leaned closer to his face. "It could be…" She said lightly, staring back at him; watching the eye that watched her from behind thick, strewn-about strands of black hair.

**AN: So yeah it took me until well after I had finished the chapter to think of this title which is weird cuz I normally have the title thought up when I first start. Also, I had thought to have them play Ultimate Ninja Storm but then decided against it.**


	19. Familial Feelings

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: Well as of this chapter update I got to 104 reviews! TY everyone! I'm working on the first one-shot (which is turning a lot longer then I originally planned lol) I should hopefully have the 1st one-shot updated with the next chapter. _This_ chapter is a whole TWO days early! Why? because it's come to my attention that today is my favorite character's, Gaara's, birthday. Happeh Birfday Gaara! :D Also! Because I said I'd let you know in an update... this story is going to be 27 chapters long. So there aren't many left -_- thank-you to every one who's stuck with me this far and who are riding with me to the end.  
**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 19: Familial Feelings**

**xxxxx**

Tuesday (Afternoon/Evening-ish)

"So what exactly is wrong with Gaara this time?" Shikamaru said as he and Temari drove through town.

"Uhh… well… He's having relationship problems…" Temari said. They were now stopped at a red light.

"More relationship problems, jeeze, I thought we were done with all these relationship dramas," Shikamaru said, groaning into his hand that was resting against the window. The light turned green and they continued onward. "So what about the relationship is bad?"

"Relationships," Temari corrected.

"Relationships?" Shikamaru said.

"He got into a fight with both of his girlfriends," Temari said.

"_Girlfriends?"_ Shikamaru said; making sure he understood what Temari was getting at. He thought Gaara was just joking when he announced he had two girlfriends. Then again, Gaara wasn't one to joke…

"Yes, and now he's hysterical," Temari said.

"Relationships are such a drag. The drama itself is just plain annoying," Shikamaru said.

"I agree," Temari said. "You don't find it weird that he really has two girlfriends?"

"It's not my place to judge whatever makes a person happy."

They finally arrived at Temari's house. Upon entering the front door they heard a strange, soft scraping noise coming from up the stairs.

"Great what's he doing now?" Temari said scowling. They hurried up the stairs to Gaara's room. Temari knocked briskly and then opened the door.

Gaara was painting his bedroom wall with his hand; smearing around the red in his palm unevenly in no real pattern, a death-inducing expression on his face. As the red ran thin, Gaara rubbed and squeezed his forearm, forcing blood out of a cut. He collected the blood in his palm and then continued to smear it along the wall.

"Gaara… that's…" Temari tried to say.

"Get out of my room," Gaara said. He didn't turn his head to look at her. He didn't even move. But his voice was so malevolent and filled with malice that as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Temari was down the hall wondering why Shikamaru wasn't following her.

"Why do you have to talk to her like that? She's just trying to help you," Shikamaru said.

Gaara turned his head a fraction of an inch in Shikamaru's direction. "If she wanted to help me then she never would have taken me away from the _institution._"

"That wasn't her fault was it? Wouldn't your parents be the ones who would make that kind of decision?"

Gaaras eyes grew wide from an anger that was rising within him. "My father."

"So it wasn't Temari then so once again why are you being mean to her? Instead of taking your problems out on the people who are just trying to help you, why don't you walk it off or something?"

Gaara turned towards Shikamaru and walked towards him. He stared at the black-haired boy intensely and then brushed past his shoulder, out of his room, past Temari down the hall, walked down the stairs, and slammed the door shut as he left the house.

"Want to help me clean the blood off of the wall?" Temari said quietly when Shikamaru walked over to her. She was sitting against the wall and was fighting back a panic attack that had tried to take over while Gaara was passing.

"I guess," Shikamaru sighed.

**xxxxx**

Gaara walked for several blocks until the sound of small wheels sweeping up and down ramps could be heard. As he came closer to the skate park he also heard a boy and girl arguing.

"Why can't I stay longer with Naruto-kun?" Gaara saw Hinata ask as he entered the skate park.

"He doesn't have a truck anymore so how are you going to get home? I'm leaving now so get in the car or else your father is going to be angry with us!" Neji said.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said to Naruto.

"Don't worry. Go ahead so that you don't get in trouble. Besides, I have company now anyway," Naruto said. He moved his hand to acknowledge Gaara. "I'll talk to Itachi and see if there's any other way I can get my truck back, alright?"

Hinata nodded her head and she and Neji left.

"What are you doing here at this hour?" Naruto said to Gaara as the brooding red-head joined him on a park bench.

"What are you, my sister?" Gaara said. Naruto started to laugh but then stopped abruptly when he realized Gaara wasn't joking.

The two of them continued to sit in silence, the only ones still at the park. Feeling more and more awkward with each passing minute, Naruto held his board up to Gaara. "Ever ride one of these before?" Gaara shook his head. "Okay c'mere."

They stood up and Naruto started showing Gaara how to ride a skateboard. First he determined if Gaara's standing style was regular or goofy. Then Naruto taught him how to push the board forward and a few different ways Gaara could stop riding. Gaara was quick to learn the very basics and soon he was carving left and right and finally he dipped into the pool and tried skating up and down the sides.

An hour or so later, the two of them were collapsed inside the pool, letting the cement cool them down, both rather tired.

"Why are you the way you are?" Naruto finally said, breaking the silence; he had come to re-realize that Gaara wasn't a talker.

"What's that mean?" Gaara said.

"Dark and murderous and quick to kill… well… attempt to kill anyway."

"Because I have killed before."

Naruto leaned up, off the ground quickly in shock. "Please don't say things like that. I can't tell if your joking or not."

"I'm not." Gaara said gravely. "You can relax though, it wasn't on purpose." Naruto didn't lie back down. "I killed my mother while she was giving birth to me." Gaara sat up as well. "It's possible that's the reason I'm this way. Or maybe it's because my family detests me. I know they try to hide it but they were bad at it when we were younger. Temari and Kankurō used to always tell dad how they hated me and wished I was the one who died instead.

"Then there's my mom's brother. My own uncle tried to kill me at one point. We aren't sure why because he committed suicide shortly after, but I assume it's because he resented me for killing his sister too. I was only six at the time."

"Wow…" Naruto said. "No wonder you're a spook…"

Gaara threw his fist into the cement, scraping a layer of skin off of his knuckles. "And now my girlfriends are trying to break up with me." He said bitterly as he began to scratch the small scab that had formed over the cut on his forearm. His fingers broke through the scab easily and thick blood began to slowly trickle down his arm, meeting with the blood from his knuckles that was dripping onto the cement.

"Calm down Gaara. Why are they trying to breakup with you?" Naruto said.

"Because it's harder for me to see them when I don't live in the institution anymore," Gaara explained. "I met them both there; Matsuri and Sari, and they were the only ones who were willing to except me. They weren't scared of me at all, but they don't like the distance that's between us now." He looked longingly at the blood on his fingertips. "To be honest, I act up for attention, and partially because I know they expect it of me anyway. Why not give them what they want? Also, a little because they took me away from Matsuri and Sari too." His voice had grown quiet as he wondered into deep thought.

"Alright how about this," Naruto said. He stood up briskly. "You still want that knife back right?"

Gaara glared at him. "Of course. That's the knife my uncle tried to kill me with. I keep it as a reminder of the hatred my family has for me."

"Okay, that almost makes me not want to say this," Naruto said, a regretful look on his face. "Anyway, if you can prove to me that you're getting better and aren't trying to destroy things or kill things then I'll give the knife back to you."

"Deal," Gaara said. They shook on it and then decided to call it a night; both leaving in opposite directions to get home.

**xxxxx**

"Oh, you're finally home," Sai said as the front door to his apartment opened. An old, scarred man, with short black hair, and bandages covering his face limped into the apartment; a cane aiding him as he walked. "That was quite the trip Danzō-sama."

"Yes well I think I've finally obtained enough information to win my case," Danzō said as he sat on the nearest chair. One of his arms was tucked away in his coat.

"I've obtained my own amount of interesting information," Sai said.

"And what would that be?"

An awkward, fake-looking smile appeared on Sai's face. "Apparently Sasuke has found two other Uchiha's; a boy, Hiko, around five-years-old, and a woman, Kasai, about twenty-six."

"Intersting," Danzō said. "That is a lot more helpful than I thought it was going to be."

Sai continued to smile. "You think so little of me."

Danzō ignored Sai's comment. "As you are already aware of, my body is like this because of that blasted war."

"The war that you fought alongside Madara Uchiha in… yes I know this story. I also know you feel entitled to the Uchiha fortune," Sai said dully, despite the smile that was still on his face.

"Correct. I think from here I'll need to pay Miss Kasai and the boy Hiko a visit. They should be able to help me greatly."

Sai frowned finally. "Are they going to be willing to help you?"

"Let's not concern ourselves with they want Sai. Remember, you were sent to me by my dear friend so be a good boy and behave yourself."

"Yes sir," Sai said as he stood up and walked to his room. He bent down under his bed and pulled out a blank canvas board and a bottle of ink. He started painting on the canvas, using the ink as his medium.

As he sat on the floor, covering the canvas in black, he thought about Danzō's friend, the man who ran the orphanage that Sai was from. Danzō had requested some assistance to infiltrate Konohagakure no Sato and since Sai didn't have any friends the man sent him. That was a while ago, but if Sai stopped assisting Danzō then he would have to go back to the orphanage. On the other hand he thought Hiko was nice and didn't want to see him hurt.

He placed his newly finished work of art on his desk, leaning it against the wall. It was abstract with no real design; rather it was a bunch of blotches and squiggles, meant to emphasize the confusion and mixed emotions Sai was experiencing at the moment.

He sighed and looked at the only photo he had on his desk; a picture of himself, but younger, next to a boy, now deceased, that he had always regarded as an older brother. It was faint but he partially remembered the familial feeling he had with the boy, and then he thought of the brotherly relationship Naruto and Sasuke had.

What was he going to do?

**xxxxx**

**AN: Return of the skateboard terminology! This time from ! Ya know writing about skateboards makes me wanna go get one but I'm almost 23! And aside from un-serious playing with one I've never actually ridden before and I don't want to be that weird adult in the kiddie class! Especially the kiddie class where I'm all alone! It's different when you're my age and you actually know what you're doing isn't it!? (´****；****ω****；｀****)****ｳｯ****…**


	20. Torn Apart

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: I'm home sick :C Once this thing is uploaded I'm going to work on chapter 21 and then on the next one-shot so that I can release them about the same time. I know I'm kind of neglecting my Shaman King and Pokemon stories but W.o.B. has been going on forever and since I can see the ending for it I wanna focus on this story and get it finishes asap. (hence why chapters 19 and 20 are being released only a few days apart...) P:  
**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 20: Torn Apart**

**xxxxx**

Wednesday

"_Hmm… I wonder if Sasuke drove Sakura to school on his motorcycle…"_ Itachi thought to himself as he piled a few books into his school bag. It was a little before twelve o'clock and Itachi was getting ready for his afternoon class when he noticed Sakura's car was still parked outside. He walked into the garage to put his bag inside his car and noticed that Sasuke's motorcycle was still there. Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"Sasuke why aren't the two of you in school?" Itachi said through his younger brother's bedroom door after hurrying to Sasuke's room.

"Crap! It's almost lunch!" He heard Sakura say from within the room. "Don't come in Itachi! I'm changing into one of his shirts."

"Shut up Sakura; I'm trying to fucking sleep," Sasuke said.

"I forgot how cranky you are in the morning," Sakura said.

"Are you dressed yet?" Itachi said.

"Yes," Sakura answered. "I just needed to change my shirt." She tried to explain while opening the door for Itachi but Itachi shoved it forward and stormed into the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" Itachi said; grabbing Sasuke's arm and dragging him out of the bed.

"Get off of me," Sasuke said. He punched Itachi in the gut with his free arm, then tripped him with and awkwardly performed sweep of his foot. Itachi doubled over and collapsed onto the bed. He kicked Sasuke in the back, pushing him towards the door.

"You _need_ to go to school," Itachi said, standing from the bed.

Sasuke turned around and walked to his bed. Itachi grabbed Sasuke's shoulder so Sasuke kneed him in the gut and then grabbed the hand Itachi had on his shoulder and flung him to the ground in front of the door. "_You_ need to leave me alone."

"And _I_ need to leave," Sakura said. "Are you sure you aren't going to school today?"

"I'm not in the mood for such trivialities," Sasuke said, lying back on his bed while Itachi groaned and stood back up; Sakura heading downstairs.

"You're being ridiculous otouto," Itachi mumbled from the door's frame.

Sasuke ignored him so Itachi headed downstairs; saddened by how Sasuke's behavior reminded him of the past.

**xxxxx**

The minutes ticked by.

'_They're probably arriving at the school by now,' _Sasuke thought. His eyes were closed and he was lying on his stomach again; his head buried in his pillow. His door creaked open and he heard soft steps walking across the carpet to his bed. Then he felt a weight on his bed beside him.

"Sasu-chan, it's time to get up," he heard a familiar voice say to him. Sasuke grumbled to his pillow in response; grunting in defiance. A hand reached over and placed itself on the top of Sasuke's head, playing with the already thrown-about hair, causing a shiver to run down Sasuke's neck and spine. "Don't want to go to school today?" the voice said.

Sasuke lay silently. He didn't want to talk to this person.

"This reminds me of a time several years ago," the voice went on. "I was going through this same predicament with a little boy about seven. He didn't want to go to school either. Asked if I could home school him even. He had to though; how else would he grow past the terrible tragedy he had just gone through? But he was stubborn just like you are. I gave him a few weeks of time off from school, but finally push had to come to shove…"

Sasuke didn't move. He didn't want the hand to leave his head. He didn't want to acknowledge the person speaking to him. His insides were tearing themselves apart from the inside out.

"You still won't go to school for me Sasu-chan?"

Sasuke was still and quiet.

"GET TO FUCKING SCHOOL!"

"Yes sir!" Sasuke jumped and turned around, but he was alone in his room. Madara wasn't there. Tobi wasn't there. He was alone, just like before when his parents died; when his whole family died. He clenched his jaw and glared at his open bedroom door. He climbed out of bed and decided to make himself some breakfast… or lunch.

**xxxxx**

"What's your game Sakura?" said Itachi as the two of them walked towards the school.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura said.

"You say you've changed but you're still prancing around like a harlot."

Sakura stared at him flabbergasted while he left her for the college section of the school.

The school was on its lunch break, so after going to the office and signing in, Sakura walked to the cafeteria. After grabbing a salad and some milk, Sakura found the girls eating outside.

"Oh-my-gosh Sakura, are you okay? Where were you last night?" Ino said as Sakura walked over to them. "My mom got a call from your mom and I had to cover for you."

"Oh…" Sakura said, frustrated that her mom did that. "I was…" she saw Karin glare at her and mumbled the rest, "…at Sasuke's…"

"Whore," Karin said.

"Excuse me?" Sakura said.

"You aren't even dating anymore but you're spending the night with him?"

The bell rang and Sakura mentally fretted about not having the chance to eat lunch. "I didn't sleep with him."

"L-let's go guys," Hinata said; trying to interject but Karin wasn't backing down. Hinata and Ino backed into the side of the building as the yard quickly emptied; the students bustling to their next classes.

Karin slapped Sakura across the face. "You're such a slut!"

Sakura grabbed her cheek and then slapped Karin. "You're one to talk!"

Karin slapped at Sakura but Sakura pulled away quickly and punched Karin in the jaw. Karin slid to the ground and kicked Sakura's shin, causing Sakura to topple on top of her. Karin wrapped her arm around Sakura's neck and then punched her with her free hand.

"Sakura!" Ino yelled and rushed to Sakura's side. She grabbed Karin's long hair and yanked, successfully pulling Karin off of Sakura.

"Meeee-ow! Cat fight," A boy said. They turned and saw Suigetsu walking towards them.

"Shut up and help me," Karin barked.

"Okay. I'm all for equality," Suigetsu said. He grabbed Karin from Ino and shoved her aside. Then he caught a punch from Sakura and shoved his fist into her gut. She coughed roughly.

From the second story, students who were in their class rooms or still in the hallways were watching the fight from the windows.

"Crap what are they doing?" Naruto said as he and Neji stared down at the brawl.

"I suppose I should get down there," Kakashi said, sighing as he put the book he was reading into his back pocket.

"What's Hinata doing?" Naruto said. Hinata had moved from the wall and was running towards Suigetsu, who was holding Sakura and Ino up by their hair and was bashing their heads into each other. Naruto started to head back to the end of the hallway when Neji stopped him.

"Remember, our family studies martial arts," Neji said. Naruto glared at him but Neji went on. "Just watch."

Hinata swung her leg at Suigetsu, who dropped the girls in order to dodge. Then Hinata rammed her knuckles along Suigetsu's side and back; strumming the knuckles from her half extended index and middle fingers across his body in a quick and repetitive motion. He fell to the ground immobile. Karin tried jumping on Hinata but Hinata ducked, turned, and took a few steps back before jamming her knuckles across Karin's shoulders and then shoving her palms into Karin's stomach, causing her to stumble backwards and collapse.

"I think that will do," Kakashi said as he strolled over to them. Even though he was walking lazily Naruto and Neji knew he had rushed over as fast as he could from behind the scenes; there was no way he would have gotten there that quick at his current pace.

"I-I'm sorry," Hinata said. She bowed to Kakashi discreetly. "I'm afraid I have over done it.

"Unfortunately I'll have to ask that you all come with me to the principal's office," Kakashi said dully. He turned around and walked back into the school, the girls following behind as Karin and Suigetsu pulled themselves off the ground.

Tsunade's office was located between the elementary and middle school section of the school. The school itself, though contained within one large building, was separated into four sections that were divided by large doors. The high school was locked out from the college and middle school so that the high school students couldn't sneak into the grades below them or above them. The middle school and elementary school were divided by the main office and so the students could easily cross sections, as long as the teachers permitted, but the middle school students were locked out of the high school area.

Any normal teacher would have easy access to the different sections of the school. All they'd need to do is grab their work keys and use the correct key to unlock the door. Each facilitator was given one in case of an emergency. Kakashi however, was not a normal teacher, and he had in fact forgotten his keys at home. They were lying in an empty can that he was using to collect spare yen coins.

"We have to walk all the way around the school?" Naruto yelled as the group of six walked towards the entrance door for the high school section of the school.

"You have to go to class," Kakashi said.

"Screw that," Naruto said. "I saw Karin start that fight. I want to know what kind of trouble my friends are going to be in, especially when you let the perpetrators ditch out." Naruto and Neji had rushed over to the group as they were walking to the front doors. Karin and Suigetsu decided to leave school and avoid immediate punishment; finding a great opening when Kakashi walked away from them absentmindedly heading back inside.

"I too wish to see what Hinata's punishment will be," Neji said.

The girls didn't talk. Sakura had finally overcome a slight bloody nose and was feeling cranky. Ino was rubbing her forehead where a large bruise was forming. Hinata was happy that both Naruto and Neji had come to support her.

"Suit yourselves," Kakashi said. They were outside again and walking around to the middle school entrance, which were several yards away. As they walked along the sidewalk their attention was caught by the sound of a motorcycle. Sasuke was pulling into the school. He stopped parallel with the group on the street. Sakura broke away from the group and walked over to him.

"What's going on? You look terrible," Sasuke said as she approached him.

"I got into a fight with Karin," Sakura said.

"Brutal," Sasuke said. He handed her his spare helmet. "I didn't want to go to school anyway." She gratefully took the helmet and climbed onto his bike. They gave a quick wave to the group and then sped off.

"You're like… the worst teacher ever Kakashi," Naruto said as he despondently finished waving to Sasuke and Sakura. Kakashi had been ignoring them and was nearly at the middle school entrance, his face buried into his book.

"And this is why he only teaches homeroom," Ino said. She and Naruto chuckled while Hinata fought to contain a smile.

"You don't teach homeroom," Neji said.

"It's a joke Neji," Ino said.

"Where's the logic?" Neji argued. "Your joke isn't funny because it doesn't make sense."

"Lighten up Neji," Naruto said. The group had caught up with Kakashi and was now walking the short distance to the office.

After a brief discussion with Tsunade, it was decided that each of the girls and Suigetsu would be given a week's worth of suspension. Hinata and Ino were forced to wait until their fathers came to pick them up.

Ino's dad arrived first. Though he was ultimately upset about the suspension, he was actually happy that his daughter had been in a fight; after his two best friends had both had sons he felt left out that he was the one who had a daughter to raise. He loved Ino, but he was jealous of the stories his friends would tell; involving camping trips and the like. But now his daughter had gone and helped kick the crap out of some random student he didn't know and he couldn't have been prouder. Sure, now that the event was over she would be going back to her flowery, feminine self, but it was moments like these that he burned into his memory so that he could boast about them to his friends when they went drinking later.

Hinata's father was in no way like Ino's. Hinata, Neji, and Naruto were forced to sit outside the office while Hiashi Hyuga had a conference with Tsunade. After half an hour of talking, the stern man walked back into the waiting room, a terrible scowl on his face.

"You won't be receiving the suspension; after all, you were simply defending your friends," Hiashi said.

"Yes sir," Hinata said.

"I can't afford for my heir to miss a single day of school, correct?"

"Correct sir."

"And you will need to focus more on your academics so that this isn't detrimental to you college entrance exams and school acceptances, correct?" Hiashi said; he folded his arms across his chest.

"Correct, sir," Hinata said.

"Then you understand why I will no longer be allowing you to date Naruto?"

Naruto gawked at Hiashi and even Hinata, who had been bowing to her father, looked up at him. "Y-y-yes…. S-sir…" She said, trying to suppress the quivering in her voice.

"Good. Follow me. You're leaving early today," Hiashi said. "Neji, class, now."

"Yes sir," Neji said. The Hyuga's left the waiting room, leaving Naruto alone. He hurried to the high school section, quickly passing Neji. He found his locker and pulled out his skateboard, ready to ditch the rest of his classes.

"It's for the best Naruto," Neji said to him as he passed him in the hallway. Naruto left the building in frustration; angry that Hiashi and Neji thought so little of him. He growled to himself in aggravation and slammed the skateboard into the sidewalk; shattering the board into large chunks.

**xxxxx **

**AN: So if you haven't already noticed, I have my first one shot up for the mini... uh... _contest(?)_ I did. The one shot is called "Bringing Two Together" and it was done for Dr. Sexy. I can't link it but you can find it on my profile :)  
**


	21. Worth the Tears

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: It's the beginning of a loooooong day! Alright guys so if you haven't noticed already I have my second 100-Reviews-One-Shot up! It's called _Questions_ and you can find it by going into my profile and... well... looking. I want R&R's for this chapter cuz it's a good one XD Go TEAM! (o, o )... _what team might that be? _TEAM WoB! (-_ - )... _team... WoB... _YEAH!  
**

**lol I'm being silly P:  
**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 21: Worth the Tears**

**xxxxx**

Thursday (part 1)

The wind whipped their hair around as they raced down the freeway; speeding around the Cliffside they drove on. It was pitch black and Sakura was cold and tired. She buried her face into Sasuke's back; cursing the helmet she was wearing for not letting her cheeks feel his warmth, and wrapping her bare arms tight around his body. Night was upon them and the moon loomed high in the sky, appearing huge and full as its reflection cascaded off the waves of the beach that surrounded the Cliffside.

"What time is it?" Sasuke said, shouting over his shoulder so that his voice wasn't carried off before Sakura could hear him.

She didn't want to pull out her cell phone, afraid that she'd drop it and never find it again, so she pulled her wrist up and pushed a button on her watch, causing it to glow with a light green light.

"One minute past midnight," she said.

"Hnn," was all Sasuke said in response as they entered into a city. He slowed briefly but not enough to come close to the designated speed limit. After two more turns they were back out of the town and heading through a road that was overshadowed by trees; their leaves and limbs covering up the glow of the moon, and the headlight on Sasuke's motorcycle being their only source of light. Without the headlight the world around them seemed pitch black and eerie.

After several more minutes Sakura began to realize that they were still on the outskirts of the town. In the blurred reflections of light she was able to make out the occasional mailbox here and there. Then, once she was sure they were finally out of the town's boundaries, Sasuke slowed the bike down enough to turn onto a long driveway that curved up a hill on a brick drive that was surrounded by thick bushes laden with flowers.

The ride up the driveway was only a few minutes long, but Sakura guessed that it would have taken at least half an hour if they had walked up. They slowed to a stop and she finally pulled away from his back.

'_Where's the house?'_ she thought to herself, gasping and turning her head hurriedly as if expecting the house to be hiding somewhere behind the bushes. Sasuke turned the steering wheel of his motorcycle and grabbed Sakura's attention; brushing her shoulder and pointing towards the light of his head beam. In the surrounding area, Sakura notices a large ruin of rubble, moss, and weeds that were taking over the remnants of a large mansion of a house.

"Where are we?" She asked solemnly.

"We're at the last place I ever saw my mother and father," Sasuke said. "Welcome Sakura, to the Uchiha memorial; a tomb where the majority of my family rests and haunt the grounds."

"Quit talking like that! You're creeping me out!" Sakura said, lightly punching him in the shoulder.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. The humor helps," Sasuke said, chuckling softly. "I'm serious about this being the place they all died though."

"What happened that day? It's never been elaborated on," Sakura said, sitting up, and listening attentively. Sasuke knew she would be asking him this if he brought her here so he was prepared to tell the story. It was the first time he had ever recounted it to someone. Itachi was the only one who had spoken to the police after the events; Sasuke had been too tormented at the time and didn't want to tell anyone.

Once he had overcome the majority of his grief, the police tried again, but he knew it had been Itachi's fault; an accident of course, but Itachi's fault no less, and the police were already aware of that so he just acted like he couldn't remember the event when he was questioned again. He never recounted the events in his journal after the initial entries he wrote; too nervous to face the feelings that would be brought up if he did. He was ready to express his memory to Sakura though, starting with the day before the event.

"Sasuke, are all of your things packed?" Mikoto Uchiha asked, entering her youngest son's room. The seven-year-old Sasuke was sitting atop his heavily packed suitcase.

"Yes mom," he said roughly. "Why can't Naruto come with us?"

"Oh Sasuke, we already discussed this," Mikoto said. She walked to her adorable son and sat on the floor next to him, bringing her hand up to the back of his head and pushing some of his hair up. She always thought he looked his cutest when his hair looked unruly in the back. "Your father and I did think of bringing him but the family is very traditional and they wouldn't understand the connection we all have with him. You wouldn't want Naruto to feel shunned would you?"

"No…" Sasuke mumbled. "But it'd be more fun if he _was_ there too."

"I know dear but we'll only be gone for a week. Come now, cheer up, you've met your little cousins before; you're going to have plenty of fun."

Sasuke nodded his head, feigning agreement. Mikoto ushered him off of his suitcase and lifted it off of the ground, taking it to the car.

"Hey nii-san, is the family reunion thing really going to be fun?" Sasuke said to Itachi as he entered his older brother's bed room.

"Not sure, it only comes around ever ten years. I was two last time so I don't remember anything," Itachi said. Itachi was lying on his stomach, reading a large book for one of his advance classes Sasuke assumed. Sasuke walked over to him and sat across his back, placing his arms across the top of Itachi's head and reading the book as well.

"That book has a lot of difficult words…" Sasuke murmured. "What's Sell-a-chim-or-faa?"

Itachi chuckled. "It's selachimorpha. I'm reading about sharks."

"Why?"

"My biology teacher has odd shark-like characteristics."

"I can't wait to get into high school," Sasuke beamed as he continued leaning on Itachi's head.

"Are you two ready? Let's go, we have a long drive ahead of us." The boys turned towards the door and caught sight of their father, Fugaku, walking down the hall.

After a couple more minutes so that everyone could relieve themselves' or grab anything they might have almost forgot, the four of them hopped into the car and began the five hour journey to their family reunion. Sasuke slept the majority of the way since they left early and he easily grew bored with _car_ games.

Once they arrived they found the rooms they'd be staying in and unloaded their belongings. The rest of the day and the few days to come were relatively quiet as the residence of the household waited for the rest of the family to turn up.

On the third day, the house was filled to the brim with Uchiha. Wherever he turned Sasuke was surrounded by people who looked like him, his brother, his mother, or his father, or they looked like a combination as genetics mixed and matched themselves before his eyes. Itachi was by far the smartest one at the reunion, though there were plenty of cousins and other more distant relatives who tried to give him a run for his money.

Sasuke was caught up by the attention that seemed to present itself and then pull away just as quickly. In one moment he was being adored for his cute looks and charming yet sarcastic attitude. Many of his aunts and female relatives wanted to hold and hug him, pinch his cheeks, and rattle his hair. No one wanted to play with him though. After they had gushed over him their attention turned to Itachi or his parents.

Because Itachi was older, he wasn't as adorable, but he was still attractive. His naturally charismatic personality had the family flocking to him, as if begging to eat whatever he had in his hands. They challenged him at wits; they sparred with him in the backyard; challenging him to sports or just rough housing. No one wanted to do this with Sasuke and he wasn't sure why; he and Naruto were always fooling around so it's not like it was anything new to him.

After wandering around for an hour, hoping for some sort of attention, Sasuke decided to explore the grounds beyond the mansion. It took him forever to get to the main road, he thought he had been walking forever and once he reached the mailbox he seriously considered turning back, but he was already this far so he might as well continue forward. With this thought in mind, Sasuke turned from the direction of the town and walked even further away.

Another endless amount of time seemed to pass and he had reached a small park. It was empty and looked abandoned; not a single child in site. There weren't even rambunctious teenagers hoping to cause trouble. He edged around the park, pretending that some ominous villain was hiding under the slides, threatening to jump out at him and cut his throat in half.

"You won't get me!" Sasuke yelled at nothing and ran around the park. Shouting at the top of his lungs like he and Naruto always did. "Quick Naruto! We have to get in the jet! I'll fly it, you fire the gun!" He climbed onto a swing and kicked off, propelling himself backwards and forwards, higher and higher, all while acting like Naruto was with him.

"Naruto, the enemy is in sight! Get him!" Sasuke shouted. "Oh no they hit us! Abandon the jet!" He made some strange sound that suggested a deadly and disastrous explosion and let go of the swing, flying through the air and tumbling along the ground until he stopped on his back. "Oh no… they… _cough, cough, hack… _got me… _bleh…_"

He lay on the sand for a few more minutes, but the game was ultimately boring him so he got back up and scanned around the playground, hoping for inspiration, or a new mission.

"The enemy's lair," he said, spotting a large barbeque. He inched over to it, hiding behind the grounds play equipment. "Poor fool. You didn't realize you were going to have the world's most powerful… ninja… yea that's a good one… You didn't realize that the police force sent a ninja after you. Now you'll die!" Sasuke charged the barbeque, picking a stick up and swinging it wildly.

No one was behind the barbeque though. He knew this but it would have been so much more fun if Naruto really was playing with him. He dropped the stick and slumped onto the ground.

"This reunion sucks!" Sasuke said loudly. "I wish my family would pay attention to me at least a little more…" He noticed some red jug next to the barbeque. "I wonder what that is…" After walking over to it, he unscrewed the lid and sniffed. "Ew! It's gas! That smells nasty." He put the jug back down, suddenly very disinterested in it, and then notices a lighter lying on top of the barbeque. "Oh hey, I've seen one of those before."

Sasuke picked the lighter up and began flicking it, but he wasn't able to start a fire. "Man I wish I knew how to get this to light up."

"What are you doing here?"

Sasuke whipped around and gasped slightly, then relief filled him as he realized Itachi was the one talking to him. "Nii-san! I'm playing with Naruto…"

Itachi sighed, realizing that Sasuke had been feeling insurmountably lonely. "The family's worried about you, you know? Let's head back." He noticed Sasuke's face drop at the idea and added, "I'll stay by your side the rest of the trip."

"Okay," Sasuke said brightly. He tossed the lighter back on the ground, near the gasoline, and walked towards Itachi.

"What are you playing with that lighter for?" Itachi snapped. "Sasuke that's dangerous, you know better than to be playing with those."

"Awe Itachi-niisan, I couldn't even get it to light, I wasn't hurting anything."

"But you threw it next to the gasoline jug, you obviously don't know the dangers that occur when you play with fire," Itachi said, exasperated. "Here, I'll show you."

"Really? Sweet," Sasuke said. Even though Itachi was scorning him for being foolish Sasuke still liked watching matches and lighters light up with flames.

Itachi grabbed the jug and poured a tiny amount onto the cement underneath the barbeque. He grabbed the lighter, holding the red button and turning the silver wheel until a spark ignited and a small flame danced atop of it. He placed the flame near the sidewalk and the two of them watched as the tiny splash of gasoline ignited for several seconds. Then Itachi's face grew very serious. There was a strange popping sound that sounded like large guns going off followed by sounds that reminded Sasuke of something bursting.

Itachi grabbed Sasuke's wrist and pulled him hurriedly into an embrace as a force Sasuke didn't recognize pushed them into the large sandbox that the play equipment stood upon.

"And that's it?" Sakura said. She was back to cuddling against Sasuke; neither had dressed properly for the cold night.

"Yep," Sasuke said. "Itachi swore he was the one who did it." He looked across the mansion's remains longingly. "To be honest though… I mean, this is my first time thinking about the events so thoroughly, but, unless he had used some kind of timer I can't really understand how he did do it."

"You never asked?" Sakura inquired.

"No, he always just said it was his fault." They continued sitting on the bike, chilled by the breeze that crossed the night, or was it the memories and spirits of Sasuke's family?

"What are you kids doing here?" A man said. They turned towards his voice and watched as a police officer stood off of a moped and walked over to them. "You aren't vandalizing this memorial are you?"

"No I'm mourning my dead family," Sasuke said. He pulled out his student ID to prove he was an Uchiha.

The man's angry expression lightened a little. "Alright then, just remember that you two are past curfew."

"Yes sir, we're about to leave anyway."

The policeman walked back to his moped and drove away.

"Do you still want to be a policeman Sasuke?" Sakura asked jokingly.

She noticed Sasuke tense up and wondered if he was blushing. "The idea has always been there," he said, causing her to laugh. "So why were you and Karin fighting?" Sasuke said, hoping to get Sakura to stop laughing.

She did indeed stop laughing. "Because she thinks we had sex."

"Damnit, I didn't have sex with you to avoid crap like that," Sasuke said, sounding quite aggravated.

"And that's the only reason, huh?" Sakura was shocked by this discovery.

Sasuke tensed again and Sakura knew he was blushing this time. "Well… We know where your feelings lie and all, but I don't want to do something with someone who I'm not exactly dedicated to…"

"Would you rather have sex with Kasai?" Sakura said; asking more sternly then she had meant to."

"Ewe… She's like my mom…. And she's my family..."

"So why can't we—" Sakura didn't necessarily want to push such a touchy topic but if he wasn't dedicated to another woman than why couldn't they finally be together?

Sasuke sighed heavily, wound up from annoyance. This wasn't something he wanted to talk about. "Sakura I don't want to focus on that okay? I'm sorry but I don't want to get into anything when I don't plan on sticking around. Do you really want to start something, fall deeper in love with me, and then have me break up with you to fulfill my plans?"

"I'm willing to wait for you—" Sakura started to say but he cut her off again.

"I don't plan on coming back."

She gaped at him. "But why? It's not like you're even going that far away!"

"I don't want to be this close to where my family died. I don't want to be so close to where my parents lived. I don't want to stay in that manor. I want to help Kasai and then I want to leave."

"You just want to run away?"

"Che! I don't expect you to understand."

"I try to… I really do…"

"Can we just go back now?"

Sakura sat defeated. She grabbed her helmet and put it back on her head as Sasuke did the same and turned his bike's engine back on. They traveled the five hours back to their home as quickly as they could, stopping only for gas. On and on Sakura cried into Sasuke's back, hoping he was mistaking her convulsions as shudders from the cold then from her dry sobbing. He wasn't fooled, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do during the trip anyway.

As they arrived into their own town, the sun had started to rise. He sped through quickly and parked on her driveway. She stayed on his bike for a few more minutes, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and her head resting on his neck.

"I know it will hurt me in the long run but can I have you until you leave?"

"No."

Sakura stood off the bike and rushed into her house, not bothering to return the helmet to him. She didn't want him to see her mascara-smeared, puffy eyed face.

Sasuke slumped on his bike, mustering up the strength to go home and face his brother, and the strength to let Sakura go and not run after her. "It would hurt me too…" He said, mumbling to himself and backing his bike out of her drive way.

**xxxxx**

**AN: I feel so BAD for not working on my Shaman King or Pokemon stories! But I'm just so into WoB at the moment! Probably because I've actually written out to chapter 23 so really I only have 4 more chapters to write and then the series will be complete! I have to focus on this and get it up for all of you! Especially for the fans who've been reading since I first started the series. I feel like I owe you guys a hell of a lot for sticking with the story after that LONG hiatus! Thank-you! The least I can do is finish it right!? I have to at least focus on getting the second chapter of my Furuba story out though because that's only released monthly and what would it say about me if I neglected _it_ too? Oh well this AN is long and I'm rambling so until next time XD  
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	22. Discussing the Past

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: So if you haven't noticed... I didn't update Furuba like I said I was going to :( Mainly it's because of me feeling sick and then some unexpectedness and argh, but now, as I sit here uploading this chapter and know that I have a free day ahead of me with no immediate plans to work on that chapter... really, what's going on with me? It's mostly cause the motivation isn't there. I've decided to put my foot down and focus all of my immediate energy into something else. But anyways, you're here for the chapter and not for my AN so go on and read and I'll elaborate afterwards. **

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 22: Discussing the Past**

**xxxxx**

Thursday (part 2)

Itachi bummed around the kitchen, getting ready for his early morning class. He was lost in thought, his mind wandering back and forth between Sasuke, himself, and the other events that had recently unfolded in his life. He wasn't exactly happy with his recent behavior, nor was he happy with Sasuke's recent behavior; a lot of things had been crossing over his mind. Itachi had been looking for his notebook for twenty minutes, but his mind was so clouded that he couldn't remember where he had placed it last. After looking on top of the seat of the same chair for what had to be the eighth time, Itachi finally gave up and decided to sit down and take a deep breath, hoping to clear his thoughts. Sasuke was certain that Kasai and Hiko were their family, so maybe it was time he finally listened to his brother rationally and truly consider the option.

Dwelling on the anger Sasuke was starting to have towards him again brought up more and more memories within Itachi. He missed the little brother he had before the explosion; the brother that clang and looked up to him. Itachi wished he had burned the memories he had of his kid brother into his mind; that would have helped him get through his time at the detention center better. But the only lasting memory that made an impression on Itachi, to such a degree that he always feared it would manifest in Sasuke again, was when Itachi last saw Sasuke before being taken away.

He was twelve when he met that Sasuke. A once in a lifetime encounter, he hoped… At the time, Itachi didn't fully comprehend what his brother was going through; he would think about Sasuke in his small room at the center. How was Sasuke handling the disaster? How was the seven-year-old handling the fact that his entire family had blown up and that his older brother was ripped away from him? He hadn't processed the severity of those internal questions at the time.

The day Itachi met the once-in-a-lifetime Sasuke was the same day he met Madara; the two of them had exchanging words briefly.

"You're brother is in shock, he isn't speaking to anyone or anything but you," Madara said.

"I know…" Itachi said. They were in a waiting room within a hospital. Sasuke had gone into shock after the explosion occurred; Itachi had been sure that his brother wouldn't truly grasp the concept of _death_ until later in his life, but Sasuke was smart and highly mature for his age. He seemed to take the deaths of each of their family members personally; feeling unbearable pain for every one of them.

"Did you really do it?" Madara said; he looked stern and angrier than Itachi ever thought someone could look.

'_Where does he get off being angry? He's not even part of the family.' _Itachi hesitated, but then finally bowed his head slightly and nodded. "Yes… I did."

A woman came into the room, dressed in a smart looking police uniform, and pestered Itachi to come with her and say his final goodbyes to Sasuke; the two of them wouldn't be seeing each other for six years after all.

"Otouto…" Itachi said; kneeling down to Sasuke's level after entering the small room Sasuke was being monitored in. Sasuke's and Itachi's ebony eyes met each other, but Itachi could tell that life was draining from his younger brother who was still trying to overcome the shock. The black of his eyes' were drained and without reflection, his body was heavy to the touch and completely unresponsive; only Itachi had been able to manage a few words out of him, but even those occasions were far and in between. "Here." He handed Sasuke a black journal. "It will be good for you to write what you're feeling inside of this, at least until you can talk again."

Itachi hugged Sasuke one last time, ruffled Sasuke's flyaway hair, and prodded him in the forehead to get his attention. "I'll see you again, little brother." Then the woman ushered him out of the room.

Over the next several years that Itachi was forced to live at the detention center he would wake up in the middle of the night, his heart pounding hurriedly as he was pestered and haunted by images of Sasuke in such a stale state; lifeless and dead inside.

Itachi had been dropped back to sixth grade, soon to start seventh, and even though the material he was forced to work with wasn't as advanced as he needed, he wasn't allowed to progress to a higher grade until the end of each year. This decrease in any effort necessary to complete his homework gave him an unnecessary amount of time to think.

He would pass the time wondering how Sasuke was doing. Did Sasuke hate him? Did he love him? Miss him? Never want to see him? Was he and Naruto still best friends? Itachi hadn't even thought to contact Naruto and tell him what happened; everything passing by so quickly. Was Madara treating Sasuke alright, or was the neglect their family had given him causing him to abuse the poor kid?

He didn't receive any letters from Sasuke, and he didn't write any out. The two of them were as good as dead to each other and upon his release, he questioned if it was right for him to force his way back into Sasuke's life. But they were brothers!

He needed to.

Itachi couldn't stand not being near his younger brother any longer.

Upon his release from the detention center, Itachi was given Madara's address and immediately made his way to Madara's house. The workers at the center were more relaxed with Itachi then the other inhabitants because Itachi was very charming, polite, and of course because the explosion had been reported as an accident.

"Itachi?" Madara said when he answered the door. "You shouldn't be here. Sasuke doesn't need to be near someone who causes him so much pain."

"I want to be with my younger brother," Itachi said. The comments that quickly followed, words flying around that tried to determine what the best course in Sasuke's life was, turned sour and led into a fight. Itachi hadn't planned to fight, choosing to avoid anything that could send him back to the center, or worst, prison, but Madara swung first and so Itachi was willing to get physical in the name of self-defense. He and Madara were trading punches, swapping kicks, and Itachi was surprised that the old man was so strong, but then Sasuke finally made his appearance.

Thirteen-year-old Sasuke. He was taller than before but _'not as tall as his older brother'_ Itachi amusingly noted to himself. His hair was still unruly, only now it looked like it was intentional; filled with gel. The biggest change Itachi noticed however was that Sasuke wasn't his innocent self anymore. He was happy that Sasuke didn't look dead on the inside like before, but he wasn't happy that Sasuke was now noticeably filled with hatred; which was made apparent when he swung at Itachi and punched him in the face. Itachi knew that his younger brother wasn't coming back and that he would have to form a new bond with the young teen before him.

Itachi fell off of Madara and landed on the ground.

"Well then… This obviously isn't a suitable environment for a child to be growing up in. Not with this physical abuse. Come Sasuke, I'll drive you to school," Itachi said, glaring at Madara and turning to his car, knowing that making the suggestion of a threat would gain obedience from Sasuke. He just wanted to talk to him, find out what he was going through and how he was doing. Itachi had dealt with plenty of punk kids at the center who were also filled with hate, so he knew what buttons to push to get Sasuke to do as he said.

During his stay at the center he had been fortunate enough to both secure a job and bribe the facilitators into getting him a license. Since he didn't have anything for his income to go towards saving up for a used car wasn't difficult to accomplish. Itachi explained this to Sasuke absentmindedly as they walked to and entered his car.

"What are you going to do nii-san?" Sasuke barked at him from inside the car as they pulled away from the manor and headed for the large school.

"Report him of course," Itachi said. He wasn't sure if he was actually going to go that far but it really depended on Sasuke.

"No! You can't!" Sasuke snapped. "He's done more for me then you ever have so where do you see the right?"

Itachi glowered at him. Sasuke would have never spoken that way to him before. What _had_ happened? The disaster had done more damage then he thought. He partially understood why Sasuke would feel the need to protect Madara, he definitely understood why Sasuke would be filled with hate, but he never realized that so much hate would be directed at him. The explosion had been an accident but then again, if Sasuke was caught up on Itachi being the one who took his family away then maybe it did make sense…

Itachi arrived at the school, "I'll do what needs to be done."

"I fucking hate you Itachi!" Sasuke yelled, trying to punch Itachi before dashing out of the car.

Itachi had blocked the punch easily, now that he was aware that his brother was going to be aggressive to him. He looked at the clock and sighed, he had brought his brother to the school very early in hopes of talking to him, _"I guess Sasuke would rather stand around doing nothing then talk to me…"_

Itachi put up with Sasuke's behavior for the next year. He acted as nice as he could without spoiling Sasuke and soon he came into a routine with Sasuke and Madara. There was an unmistaken bond between his brother and his disowned family member who he and Naruto, who was also freshly reintroduced into his life, soon started referring to as _grandpa _that Itachi wasn't able to figure out. Sasuke and the old man seemed to be in sync and their thoughts were similar. They had a lot of the same likes and dislikes.

But Madara _had _been with Sasuke for nearly half his life, so it was understandable that they would be close. What Itachi couldn't understand was why Madara was violent with Sasuke and why Sasuke wouldn't do anything but run and hide. Sasuke was always trying to pick fights with Itachi, and he was always getting into fights with Naruto, but when Madara became aggressive Sasuke would freeze up and take it.

Eventually Sasuke decided to stay after school and take lessons from Orochimaru; a teacher that Itachi had never cared for and had been hesitant around; being sure that Orochimaru had made a pass at him when he was younger and attending his class. Then as soon as Sasuke had started the private lessons, he stopped, and there looked like there was a bite mark on him?

"Just leave me alone!" Sasuke bellowed angrily when Itachi and Madara questioned him. They weren't able to get answers from Naruto either. Naruto had been taking lessons from Jiraiya off campus, lessons that Itachi was sure involved perverted things like spying on women at the local pool and how-to demonstrations for stealing Playboys from gas stations; and so he didn't even know what Sasuke was up to with Orochimaru.

Whatever had happened, Sasuke seemed shaken from the event. It wasn't noticeable but Itachi was sure that Sasuke was feeling violated because of the whole thing so he decided he needed to step in and start protecting Sasuke for once. A few days after the event Madara made a grab for Sasuke, his attacks still being far and few at the time, so Itachi intervened. He grabbed Madara and pulled him off of his brother, said, "If you need to go somewhere then you should leave," to Sasuke, and then released Madara after Sasuke had left the house.

Sasuke was initially hesitant about Itachi pulling Madara off of him, but Itachi never went further and Sasuke was soon relying on his brother; it was an easy method to go by that didn't go against Sasuke moral code to not hurt his grandfather. Sasuke never thanked Itachi, still acting distant from him, but one fateful night Itachi finally received a phone call from Sasuke that pleaded for his assistance.

In the midst of a school dance some poor girl named Sakura thought she would confess her feelings to Sasuke and now he was in a bind because he had abandoned her at the dance and didn't want to return. Itachi jumped at the chance to be there for his brother and from that point the small bridge of trust had finally been reopened between them.

Then the present arrived and Itachi was watching his brother grow angrier every day. He wasn't sure if it was because of Madara's death, or because of how Itachi was reacting to Kasai and Hiko, or a combination of both.

_Ding-Dong_

Itachi snapped out of his thoughts and meandered over to the front door. _'Who the hell is stopping by? Did Sasuke forget the house key?' _Itachi definitely wasn't expecting to see the woman standing on the other side of the door, with long black hair and eyes that reminded him of his mother. "Kasai?"

"Sasuke-kun is at school right?" Kasai said. Her pleasant face seemed both soft and serious.

"I'd imagine so. He never came home last night." Itachi said. He wasn't sure what to make of the visit but a guest was a guest so he offered her entrance into the manor and ushered her to the kitchen where he started to make tea.

"You aren't the most responsible are you?" Kasai said bleakly, her voice soft as she stared at her hands which were folded into one another on top of the kitchen table.

Itachi wasn't put off by her comment; in fact he was rather amused by it. Normally he would have argued the point because he was very responsible, but then, considering the topic, she was right in assuming he wasn't. "How do you know where we live?"

"Sasuke."

"Of course…" Itachi poured her the tea and then took a seat across from her. "So… uh… where's your son? _Hiko?"_

"He's in his kindergarten class." Kasai sipped the tea.

"I see. So…" Itachi was awkwardly trying to push to the reason for her visit but didn't want to seem rude.

Kasai seemed to feel the same way, wanting to jump right in but felt she should make small talk first. With the talk not picking up she finally said, "I got a visit from a man named Danzō yesterday." She noticed Itachi tense at the name. "So you know this man then?" She said rhetorically. "He's determined to take the _Uchiha Fortune_ to court, saying that it's being withheld from the rest of the clan. That the fortune belongs to the oldest Uchiha and that Danzō was promised by the oldest Uchiha, at the time, Madara, that he would get a large share of it. He went on to add that he has legal documentation to prove that he is a member of the clan as well."

"That man is not related to the Uchiha," Itachi said sternly.

"Apparently he and Madara signed some form or something while at war together," Kasai said. "Danzō says that since I'm the oldest member of the clan now, by blood at least, that I can either hand over his share of the fortune or we can talk again in front of a judge."

Itachi had stood from his seat during Kasai's longer talk; too on edge from the talk about Danzō to keep sitting still. "You aren't an Uchiha," he snapped at her. While he was slowly being more inclined to believe Sasuke, he was still hesitant on the idea.

Kasai stood up quickly and slapped him across the face. "Don't you dare think that you can kill my parents and then disown me from the family; that's not fair."

"Who were your parents?" Itachi said, his hand was on his cheek now and he was frowning at her.

"Like you'd remember them by name," Kasai said, "if anything, they would have been gloating about me moving into my dorm at the university in Kumogakure."

Itachi's eyes widened. His mouth dropped a fraction of an inch. "I… remember them…" Kasai's eyes narrowed now so he continued. "I was preselected to go to Kumagakure and I was really excited about it, that's why they even brought it up. I never got to though because the invitation was dropped after the accident."

"Yes well I wasn't allowed to attend either. Kumagakure doesn't hand out scholarships willingly, and I can only imagine that you were a _very_ special case, but my parents were using a portion of the Uchiha Fortune to fund it," Kasai explained. "After the explosion legal documentation and inheritance sent the money to Madara. Because our clan was large, consisting of several hundred people as I'm sure you remember, there was a lot of confusion for the legal workers.

"Many of the Uchiha were written off from the family registry to avoid countless piles of paperwork, and since those members were dead it didn't matter. My family was also written off, however, so I was left with nothing to their names but insurmountable debt."

Itachi leaned against the kitchen wall. "It seems like siding with Danzō would greatly benefit you then. With you on his side he would undoubtedly win his case and you would have more than enough money to live a happy, simple life. And yet here you are?"

Kasai sat back down on her chair and drained the remainder of her tea. Itachi filled her cup up and then poured one for himself. After they drank, Kasai continued. "I was really angry with you for several years after the incident. One day I received a random email from some kid named Sasuke who said he was an Uchiha trying to find other members of his family. I was twenty-one at the time.

"We messaged back and forth and at first I didn't believe him, but then as I came to trust him I realized I was also jealous of him for living such a wealthy, cushy life. Then, as we grew closer and he explained his situation; the depression, nightmares, Madara's split personality, everything… I realized that money wasn't happiness.

"At twenty-two my lover knocked me up and I gave birth to Hiko shortly before my twenty-third birthday. I had been in a relatively stable job and was able to take maternity leave. Sasuke asked if I needed any money for extra support but I didn't want to take from him. We both understood that I deserved a portion of the fortune but I was used to my new life and I didn't want to cause any unnecessary drama, plus my lover was supporting me so I was still living comfortably.

"Once my maternity leave was over however, I wanted to go back to work and that upset my lover to the point that he left my child and me on our own. Again Sasuke asked if I needed money and I realized that he had started to feel obligated to take care of me. He was what, around twelve at the time? I decided to cut ties with him and simply stopped responding to his messages, which, over a long period of time, began lessoning and appearing rarely.

"I read every email though and he did still send them periodically. I can only imagine how much it hurt him to have finally found family and then to have that family not keep in touch. We hadn't even met in person. Then it seems that my son was snooping through my email and found one of the letters. He created his own account, possibly thinking Sasuke was his father, I don't know, and the two of them began messaging. I didn't realize until later. I should have monitored his email account, but he's an Uchiha of course so I guess that while I should have known better I just didn't think a five-year-old would be smart enough to create his own email.

"Either way, Hiko told me about the letters and before I knew it, Sasuke was back in my life. Shorty after that Sasuke put two and two together and realized Hiko was my son."

They stayed quiet for a few minutes as Itachi absorbed Kasai's story. She really was his family; more than likely his second cousin on his mother's side. "I didn't do it."

"What?" She said.

"I didn't kill them. It was Danzō."

"What are you saying?"

Itachi sighed heavily. "Danzō had tried abducting Sasuke when he was younger, his first day of kindergarten even, luckily my father and I had found Sasuke in time. I noticed Danzō a lot after that. It seemed like I was always running into him on my way to check on Sasuke and his friend, Naruto. Sasuke wasn't aware, and one day Danzō confessed to me that he had others watching my brother and that he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. I tried telling my father but he and the police force he worked with never found anything, and you can only play a dirty cop for so long before the citizens get angry. A few days before the reunion, Danzō came to me and told me that my attempts were futile and that if I didn't want to see Sasuke hurt that I'd have to play along." Itachi took another deep breath; he had never recounted this to anyone. "I didn't know that such a travesty was going to occur at the reunion, but once it did I realized it could only be Danzō's doing. So I played along and told them that I did it."

"You don't think this is all a part of his plan do you?" Kasai gasped. "He seems so sure about everything. Like he's got it in the bag…"

"If he is as smart as we're assuming, then it's safe to say he's even been in this house," Itachi said.

"What are you getting at Itachi-san?" Kasai said.

"I'm saying that Madara's safe was incredibly easy to get into. Too easy for someone who had once been in his position at war, and there isn't a will anywhere that I can find."

"So Danzō killed our family to usher the money to Madara and then Madara was supposed to send it to him?"

"Maybe, but why didn't he? Why wait until he had died?"

"Was he ashamed of himself?"

The two of them relayed theories on the topic; the tension that had surrounded them suddenly retransformed as they tried to determine what Danzō was up to and the best course of action to take. The one thought that stayed in the back of their minds however: where was Sasuke. He had been missing all night and they both hoped he had decided to go to school.

**xxxxx**

**AN: Dun dun dun! Can you feel that tension!? I wonder what's going to happen next! Oh wait... I already know... Ha!  
**

**So anyway I said I'd elaborate. Not that it's THAT big of a deal but I've finally put my foot down and am going to master Japanese. Enough said, it's going to happen. I'm giving myself until September of next year to learn the language (at least enough to maintain conversation) and then I'm flying to Japan for two weeks. That's the plan and I'm journaling the journey on a word press blog (AnJ to Japan). But yes unfortunately I'm still getting in the groove of this learning and I'm immersing myself with it whenever possible. There's currently a high-possible positive chance that my stories will be put on hiatus because I'm determined to do this. Once I know enough of the language I want to take a seminar and then move there and start teaching English. By that point I'm also hoping to start vlogging as well as blog about the experience. Don't worry about W.o.B. though. I only have 4 more chapters to type up and then it will be completed so this series will continue to update weekly until complete.  
**


	23. Revelations

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: I don't really have a lot to say in this AN, except that I love molding these characters' lives like putty lol.  
**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 23: Revelations  
**

**xxxxx**

Thursday (part 3)

Lunch had arrived at the school and Naruto's group felt like it was lacking. Sasuke was gone to who knows where, Sakura, Ino, and Karin were suspended, and Hinata was avoiding the table. Tenten was sitting with Neji, Lee, Sai and their other friends. Haku had left the school to eat his lunch with Zabuza, like he always did. Naruto was laying the upper half of his body across the table exaggeratedly, Kiba and Chōji were discussing new tricks for Akamaru to learn, Shino was delved into a book about insects, and Shikamaru was passing the time staring off at the clouds. Without the girls around or Sasuke's presence attracting others to the table, lunch was pretty calm and boring.

Kiba stopped mid sentence and his face scrunched in disgust; like he had caught the smell of something foul; or in her case, a batch of pheromones that he was not attracted to. Temari sat beside Shikamaru at the table and it seemed that she and Kiba had an unspoken agreement to not acknowledge one another.

"I just wanted to thank-you again for… well, you know," Temari said as she set her tray down.

"No problem, I was happy to help," Shikamaru said. The others would have wanted to know what they were talking about but Naruto was too preoccupied with sulking, Kiba wasn't about to have a conversation with Temari, Chōji thought it was best to leave them to each other, and Shino was distracted by the book.

As Temari and Shikamaru conversed, the table was joined by another person, Gaara; for the first time Gaara had decided to sit with them.

"She's been watching you," Gaara said to Naruto. Naruto sat up, surprised because he hadn't noticed Gaara's presence yet. He looked in the direction of Gaara's gaze and noticed Hinata looking at him. Hinata turned away quickly and scampered off in embarrassment. Naruto was about to chase after her but Neji was on her heels, glaring at Naruto as if daring him to talk to her.

"I never expected a relationship to be this much work," Naruto said.

"They are troublesome but I find they're worth it. Being with someone, or two, who love you and who you love is a great feeling," Gaara said.

"I know that she likes me a lot, but I don't really like her _that_ much. I mean, I care for her, yeah, but I'm not sure I like her enough to deal with all of this drama," Naruto admitted. He hated himself a little for saying that. Like he was giving up or running away, but they had only been going out for four days and now he had to fight just to be with her.

"Ugh we still have fifteen minutes left until class," Kiba growled; he and Chōji had finished their conversation. "This sucks! You guys are boring… I wish the girls were here."

"I wonder if this is how they feel whenever a lot of us are suspended," Chōji said. They thought about it humorously and then joked around about what they thought the girls discussed while they were gone; like if Sasuke was gay or teasing Hinata about her crush on Naruto or the sexy wrestling that they did on their last slumber party. Just as their boredom came to a close the school bell rang and they left for their next classes.

**xxxxx**

Naruto went through the rest of the school day in a melancholic blur. He didn't like how Sasuke had been acting recently; ditching class with Sakura even. He wanted to know what had happened to him, Sasuke had been gone yesterday and today, so he decided to ask Temari for a ride to Sakura's house after school.

"Later guys," He said as he climbed out of her car, waving goodbye to her, Gaara, and Kankurō. "Thanks for the ride." Naruto walked up the steps to Sakura's house. The back of his hand rapped across her front door until she opened it. He took a step back and gasped; she looked terrible.

"H-hey Naruto," She said and then walked away, leaving her door open so that he could come inside. He hesitantly followed her up to her room and watched her collapse on her bed, wrapping her arms around a large pillow. Her face was puffy, her eyes were bloodshot and she looked like she had been screaming in agony.

"What happened to you?" Naruto said. Before he could run; before he could regret the words that had just slipped out of his mouth, she went into a long rant.

"He still doesn't want to be with me, it doesn't matter what I do to him or for him he just doesn't want me. I'm never going to be good enough. I don't get it! What about me does he not like? Does he look at me like a sister or something? He definitely never kissed me like I was his sister! We've told each other so many things; stayed up into the long hours of the nights talking about nonsense and cuddling. We've held each other, been there for each other. We _know _each other. It might not be the best match but it's definitely not a bad one.

"Sure I'll admit I went too far with the blackmailing but I thought he had forgiven me! He's sure been protecting me like he has. Why would he take me to somewhere so personal like the place his parents _blew up_ if I wasn't special to him? But no he just wants to run away. Go to Kasai's house and help her raise Hiko and then leave for good and never come back!" She gasped for breath and then buried her face back into her pillow.

It dawned on Naruto that this must be what Hinata's feeling; only Hinata never expressed herself as carelessly as Sakura. _'She's bottling all of this in?' _Naruto thought, and for once he was thinking only of Hinata. Even though Sakura was the one crying on her bed, filled with defeat and doubt, Naruto was concerned about Hinata, who after going through all of this was still trying her hardest to be with the man she wanted. _'Me…'_ He looked back to Sakura, feeling guilty that he wasn't trying to help her, but she was Sasuke's and Sasuke was the only one who would make her feel better.

He stood up and left the room, leaving her hanging onto her pillow for dear life as her heart continued to break, burn, and shatter from a love that she was trying to convince herself wasn't good for her. It was hurting her more to let go then it was to be denied and the process was tearing her apart inside.

Naruto closed her front door behind him as he started walking to the manor; hoping that Itachi might see him and pick him up on his way over; all while thinking about Hinata. Whether he cares for her as much as she does for him it wasn't right for her to be so trapped, and if he was the only one who could let her free from that weight on her heart, then he was going to help her.

**xxxxx**

Ino was watering flowers in her family's greenery when the bell at the front door _dinged. _She stood up from her crouch, having bent down to gently sprinkle water on some seedlings, when she noticed Chōji.

"I, uh, thought you might like your homework so that you don't fall behind," he said awkwardly.

"Oh thanks Chōji," Ino said, setting the water pot down. "Come on in." They opened a door at the side of the green house which led into her house, then headed to her room. "So how was school?"

"It was actually kind of boring without you girls there," Chōji admitted. "And Shikamaru was preoccupied with Temari at lunch."

"Ooh, Shikamaru likes Temari huh? I guess I could see that, she probably reminds him of his mom," Ino said, looking up in thought, her hand pressed to her chin as she imagined them on a date.

"Y-yeah, I guess I could see that," Chōji said. "He hasn't said anything about it though."

"He isn't really the type to talk about that kind of thing is he?" Ino said. Shikamaru never gossiped and definitely didn't discuss things like his likes or dislikes. He needed to be asked and pressured into divulging that kind of information, not being one to openly talk about himself.

Chōji was standing awkwardly and Ino realized that he was probably unsure of if he was allowed to visit or if she was expecting him to leave now that he had given her the homework.

"Chōji relax and sit down a little," Ino said. "It's been forever since we hung out, just the two of us."

"It hasn't been that long has it?" Chōji asked.

"Regardless I like hanging out with you and I've been alone and bored all day, keep me company, will ya?"

Chōji smiled, "S-sure." His cheeks turned red as he grew embarrassed from the smile. He tried to hide the glow on his face as he sat down on the couch in her room. She sat down beside him, right next to him so that their legs were touching, further worsening his blush. He wasn't sure what to do with his hand. His one had was resting on the arm of couch, but his other hand… if he put it down on the cushion he'd end up touching her butt; he wasn't sure if she would appreciate that.

He moved his arm to the top of the couch extending past her and she leaned into his body and rested her head on his shoulder. Chōji gulped and lowered his arm to rest on the other side of her body. Their hands touched for a second and he wasn't sure what her reaction would be, but before he could think to move it she had their fingers laced between each other. He wasn't complaining, but he wasn't sure what to do either. Together they stayed as one and let the rest of the day pass them with time easing the uncomfortable tension between them as they grew more accustomed to the closeness.

**xxxxx**

Naruto barged into the manor, yelling, "Sasuke!"

"What do you want dobe?" Sasuke barked from the second floor.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing with Sakura?" Naruto said; his voice was rough from the long walk; night had already fallen on the town.

"What do you care? You want her that badly? I thought you were with Hinata," Sasuke said, coming down from the second story. Sasuke wasn't sure why Naruto wanted to fight but he didn't like that the argument was about Sakura.

Naruto punched him across the face, causing Sasuke to stumble to his left before finding his center and standing straight again. "You don't care about anyone but yourself!" He grabbed the collar of Sasuke's shirt and yanked him closer. "Who the fuck are Kasai and Hiko by the way? You've been keeping a lot of things from me and you've been giving Sakura a lot of mixed signals!"

"I don't need to tell you every single thing that's going on in my life," Sasuke yelled. He kneed Naruto in the gut and then shoved his arms in between Naruto's before separating them to get him to let go. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's head and pulled him closer to give him a painful head-butt that sent Naruto fumbling backwards. Sasuke seemed unscathed and very pissed off. "I have feelings for Sakura but that doesn't matter."

"Why? Because you want to leave?" Naruto growled; rushing towards Sasuke and swinging at him again. Sasuke caught the punch with his hand; his fingers wrapped around Naruto's fist, then he swung at Naruto with his other hand. Naruto grabbed hold of Sasuke's wrist and the two of them struggled to free themselves from the other so that they could try again.

"So what if I want to leave?" Sasuke said; his voice low and malicious. "I can't stand being here anymore. I just want to leave and Sakura has no reason to be a part of that when she has friends and family here!" Sasuke kicked Naruto in the gut but Naruto didn't let go so they both fell onto the floor on top of one another.

"What do you mean you want to leave?" Itachi said as he entered the room they were in. Sasuke was straddling Naruto, keeping him pinned to the ground. The hand he had wrapped around Naruto's fist was holding his arm down while his other hand was trying to swing at Naruto but was being kept away by the hand Naruto had on his wrist.

Itachi had just arrived from school, happy to find Sasuke at home, but not happy that Sasuke was fighting with Naruto and saying that he wanted to leave.

"What the fuck ever!" Sasuke said. He let go of Naruto's fist and slammed his hand into Naruto's throat, holding it around his neck in a tight grip. Naruto gasped and let go of Sasuke's other hand so that he could try to pry the fingers off from around his neck. Once Sasuke was free of Naruto's grasp he let go and stormed past Itachi.

Itachi was about to stop him but then hesitated; everything that Sasuke was angry about could be resolved now because Itachi knew the truth about Kasai and Hiko. He couldn't tell him that in front of Naruto though, or else it would piss Sasuke off more. After a few hours alone Itachi figured he'd calm down.

With a slam of the door that shook the walls, Sasuke left.

"Are you okay?" Itachi asked Naruto.

"Yeah but holy crap, he looked like he was serious about choking me out for a second there," Naruto said; he was still grabbing his throat worriedly. "Hey nii-san… what do I have to do to get my truck back?"

"Make sure that if Sasuke does leave you try to do everything possible to bring him back," Itachi said. They headed into the kitchen to get tea.

"Ha! I'd do that anyway but fine, you've got yourself a deal," Naruto said.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke was speeding down Main Street when he noticed Deidara waving him down.

"Oh man am I happy to see you," Deidara said when Sasuke pulled to a stop in front of him. "Give me a ride to Sasori's." Sasuke didn't say anything as Deidara climbed on behind him; too pissed off to care anymore. He kicked off and flew down the road at lightning speed until he was in front of Granny Chiyo's puppet shot. "You seem pissy about something… Why don't you come chill out a bit?" Deidara suggested as he climbed off the motorcycle.

Sasuke rolled his eyes but decided he might as well; maybe they'd let him drink or something. The two of them entered through the side entrance to the house and Sasuke was only half shocked that Sai was there talking to Sasori.

"I didn't see you at school," Sai said but Sasuke ignored him.

For the next half hour Deidara tried getting Sasuke to tell him what was wrong but finally gave up on him and convinced Sasori that they should go to his room; leaving Sai and Sasuke alone.

"Well I suppose I'll leave then," Sai said as he stood up. "I guess you're going home too?" Sasuke shook his head 'no.' "No? So are you just going to pass out here and listen to Deidara and Sasori all night?" Sasuke's face scrunched up; he hadn't thought about that.

Sai sighed. "How about you come to my place? I obviously can't make you go to school tomorrow so you're free to ditch again if you'd want to, and I'm not going to try anything with you because my guardian is back."

Sasuke looked at him, trying to see past any façade. Once he was sure Sai was serious he stood up and decided to leave with him, saying, "I'll follow behind you on my bike."

**xxxxx**

**AN: Just when you think he's safe the author goes and does this shit. What is SHE thinking?**

**Author: who? me? nothing, nothing aheh heh heh heh v(￣∇￣)ﾆﾔｯ**


	24. Distractions

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: Yay for another chapter. I've only read through it like once so sorry if there are errors. My critique-er isn't here to tell me if there's anything I should add/remove/change. Also, I'm not sure about this chapter title but whatever.**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 24: Distractions**

**xxxxx**

Thurday (last part)

Sasuke parked his motorcycle behind Sai's lark. The night sky was cloudless and a full moon loomed over them, making it easy to see one another in the dark. Sasuke dismounted his bike and stormed into the house after Sai; the chill in the air failing to cool down his nerves. Sai's house was eerie in the dim light as they made their way quietly down the hall, trying not to make a sound while they walked to his room.

"So you said you had a guardian… what about your parents?" Sasuke said; finally calmed down enough to make small talk; anger had escaped his mind while he had focused on staying silent.

Sai opened his closet and pulled out a futon. "My parents died a long time ago," he said as he began rolling out the futon so that Sasuke would have a place to sleep. My guardian isn't their friend or anything; he's actually the friend of the man who runs the orphanage I'm from. I'm here upon his request."

"I didn't ask for your life story," Sasuke grumbled, collapsing atop the futon heavily and turning to the side, his head resting on his hand. Sai chuckled lightly at Sasuke's rude behavior and started dressing for bed. "So where's this guardian of yours anyway?" Sasuke said, mumbling as he forced a conversation; he wasn't exactly comfortable sleeping in Sai's room.

"Hmm… I wonder," Sai said; paused midway through changing into a nightshirt. "In the basement perhaps? He's always there plotting. Actually it'd probably be best if you didn't see him tonight." He finished buttoning his long pale shirt and began walking to the door.

"Why's that?" Sasuke said; his voice low as his disinterest in the topic helped lure him into sleep.

"I wonder," Sai said. Sai left the room for a few minutes as Sasuke drifted to sleep, not bothering to question the fact that they had sneaked into Sai's house and that Sai had warned him not to meet his guardian.

**xxxxx**

Friday

With Sasuke's disappearance occupying their minds, the day past quickly for Itachi and Naruto. It was the third day in a row that Sasuke hadn't been in school; fourth if Itachi hadn't caught him at Kasai's and forced him back home. They weren't sure if he was ditching class because he was still angry about yesterday or if there had been an accident. Maybe Danzō _did _have him? He wasn't answering their texts.

Naruto's leg vibrated angrily under his desk as he theorized what had happened to Sasuke; Itachi graciously filled in all the details and he was now up to date with everything. As his desk shook violently from his shaking leg Naruto was aware that his classmates were staring at him and that his teacher was growing annoyed from the distraction, but his focus was out the window and in the school parking lot. In the back of his mind he hoped he'd hear the familiar revving of Sasuke's motorcycle in the distance.

Classes went by in this same fashion until lunch when Naruto stormed over to Sai's table, hoping that the monotone, pasty teenager would have a clue were his broody, angst-filled best friend was; Sai always seemed to know things that he shouldn't.

"Why hello, Naruto," Sai said as the blonde neared the table.

"Not to imply anything weird but have you seen Sasuke at all?" Naruto said bluntly.

"Unfortunately I have not been graced with Sasuke's presence as of late," Sai said. Naruto sighed, he was sure Sai wasn't telling the truth but for once Sai wasn't wearing a fake smile and was acting dead serious. He slinked back to his table, figuring that if Sai did know something then he must be covering for Sasuke.

At Naruto's table, Gaara had once again joined Naruto's friends.

"You have a thing for my sister," Gaara said to a daydreaming Shikamaru.

"I wonder if I do," Shikamaru said, burying his face away in his arms which were folded across the table. "It seems like too much to think about."

"She likes you," Gaara said nonchalantly. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and was sitting still like a statue; Naruto wasn't sure if he had eaten lunch already or not.

"I see," Shikamaru said before drifting into a nap.

Naruto laughed under his breath. He had to give credit to Gaara for at least trying to have a conversation, but Shikamaru wasn't the best conversationalist, and Gaara was well out of practice so Naruto wasn't surprised that they didn't get far. At least Gaara was starting to act a little more normal and the act itself pulled Naruto's attention away from Sasuke for a little bit.

Once classes started again Naruto's mind was back to fretting. Before fifth period started he had found Itachi and confirmed that Sasuke hadn't bothered contacting him either. The worry sped time up rather that slowed it down and in what felt like seconds flat Naruto was racing towards the school doors, finally able to escape the academy and try to hunt Sasuke down.

"I was wondering if we could go to the skate park again," Gaara said as Naruto raced passed him. He stopped mid-stride and looked at Gaara quizzically. He wanted beyond anything to find Sasuke and beat some sense into him, but Sasuke was capable of doing that himself with enough time, Gaara on the other hand… If Naruto wasn't willing to help Gaara then the redhead could retract from his progress and start unhinging from normalcy again.

Naruto sighed as he decided it would be best to entertain Gaara rather than find Sasuke. With his mind made up he imagined that anyone else would have been a little embarrassed to ask such a silly question so directly; Naruto did go to the skate park almost every day after all, but Gaara was as composed as ever. He chuckled and said, "Sure, let's go to the skate park. We'll have to buy boards first though because you don't have one and I busted mine."

Gaara nodded in agreement and the two of them headed for the center of the city, to a small shop ran by a plump old woman that everyone called Nekobaa. The store was small and focused on auto mechanics and weapons. The checkout counter was a glass casing that contained hundreds of weapons from guns to knives and daggers; a few kunai and throwing stars were added in to give the collection some variety. Swords and battle axes decorated the wall behind the counter were the customers could view but not touch. In the front of the shop, near the display window, were various tires and used auto parts that could be purchased for cheap, as well as a few isles of things like skate wheels, window wipers and brake fluid, light bulbs etc.

Sasuke often came here when he needed to give his motorcycle a tune up because he could find what he needed at a good price or Nekobaa offered the options of ordering a part he needed or having it fixed in the auto shop in the basement. He also introduced Naruto and his friends to the store because it provided all the means to make their own boards, or buy new boards in general.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto," Nekobaa said as Gaara walked to the side of the store that offered discounted and used bicycles, skate boards, rollerblades, and scooters. "How are the Uchiha's doing after, you know…?"

Nekobaa had always been on good terms with the Uchiha, dating back far before Itachi was even born. Since her shop was filled with an abundance of questionable weaponry the Uchiha, the majority of which worked with the city's police and other task forces, had always paid her a visit and checked up on her. A strong bond had been formed between her and the family because she complied with every rule and regulation and kept her vendor permits up to date.

The easy relationship that she had with the police caused whispers about under-the-counter deals between her and the Uchiha to spread after the deadly family reunion. Sasuke had brought this up one day after Naruto had commented on oddities about the old woman, and before Naruto could question if it was true or not, Sasuke smirked and added that he was sure Nekobaa had started the rumors herself to gain an _underground_ fame to help boost her sales. It would definitely explain why she was still in business after the majority of her customers died.

"Oh yeah, you weren't able to make it to the funeral were you?" Naruto said calmly. "I'm sorry I didn't remember; that day is a little foggy." He fought a blush that tried to creep across his face; the main memory he had of that day was sharing a kiss with Hinata.

"Well Madara was about as old as I am, going to die sooner or later. Plus I was busy. Attending funerals don't pay the bills, ya know?" Nekobaa said, taking a long drag from the pipe she was holding. Comments like that were the ones that used to make Naruto question why Sasuke liked Nekobaa so much. Maybe it was because she was cunning, or because she was an old family friend; either way he trusted her and loved the shop, this being the place he had bought his motorcycle. Whatever the reason, Naruto still felt a little awkward being near the shop owner and the shop itself. She was definitely an oddball: dressing like a cat, openly smoking in the building, and there was an odor of cats the leaked out of the main house and was only mildly covered up by the Skunk Weed he was sure she had in her pipe.

"Naruto-kun! How are you doing? It's been forever."

There was at least one truly redeemable feature that the shop had to offer, apart from the skate board stuff. Naruto beamed and waved to an attractive brunette that had just come from the basement. The shop only had two workers, Nekobaa, who ran the main store, and her granddaughter Tamaki who was a licensed auto mechanic. Tamaki had odd qualities like her grandmother, mainly consisting of a love for the shop and strange cat-like features: her eyes were wide and piercing while her body was lanky and agile. Then again there was also the trait Naruto had grown to learn plagued nearly every girl around his age; she had a huge crush on Sasuke, and as far as Naruto was concerned, this was her biggest flaw, but one he was willing to put up with for a little attention.

"Hey Tamaki, yeah, it has been awhile huh?" Naruto said cheerfully. Even with her hair tied into a grease-filled, messy bun, and her baggy overalls covered in oil and dirt Tamaki's upbeat personality made her very cute.

"And how's Sasuke doing?" She said, her voice resounding with anguish. Naruto mentally rolled his eyes as yet another girl pestered him about Sasuke. If she was so worried about him then she should call him. Naruto would give her Sasuke's number if she asked but he was sure she already had it. She might have dropped out of school early to work on getting her new auto mechanic license but she still had friends at the high school who would have gladly helped her get in touch with Sasuke.

"He's brooding but he'll get over it," Naruto said. He chuckled internally at Tamaki's reaction. His statement was focused on Sasuke's anger towards his brother, not Madara's death, and he didn't realize how cold and blunt he sounded when answering her; but for once he wished he could meet a girl that didn't obsess over Sasuke.

"I like this one," Gaara said, interrupting their brief conversation with his low, raspy voice. He was holding up a basic skateboard that had a blood red design on it.

"Oh my," Tamaki said, gasping at Gaara; even when he tried to act normal he was still terrifying by appearance alone. "I just came up to tell granny that the first car is finished." She and her grandmother nodded to each other and then she continued, "I have to go start on the other one now." Tamaki rushed back downstairs as quickly as possible.

"Way to go Gaara," Naruto said sarcastically.

"What did I do?" Gaara said. His face was blank and Naruto laughed openly, telling him not to worry about it since he didn't get the joke in the first place. Naruto quickly found a stable board and they made their purchases. Getting to the skate park was a lot easier and faster now that he finally had the board beneath his feet. He gave Gaara some advice for riding down long hills and then they descended down the street, dodging cars and rushing down the tar road at accelerating speed, the air wiping their hair hurriedly as their eyes dried and began tearing.

This was the feeling that Naruto loved and the reason he enjoyed skate boarding so much. He ripped side to side down the hill, grinding on the sides of the side walk and raising his hands to his face to shield him from the wind as he tested out the new board. The adrenaline from the speed he felt forced his blood to pump heavily through his system and the wind rushing past him obstructed his breathing and took his breath away leaving him with a natural high that left him feeling light headed and weightless. Within ten minutes the hill had leveled and they had slowed enough that they needed to kick to propel themselves forwards; a few minutes after that and they were at the skate park.

The park was rowdy and filled with their friends, except for Sasuke and Sakura; Ino was there and so was Karin but they were standing as far apart from each other as possible.

"Oh boo, I was hoping Sasuke was going to be with you," Karin whined as they drew closer to the group.

Naruto rolled his eyes, _'always Sasuke.'_ Then he noticed Hinata; she was nervously on top of a skate board and Kiba was trying to teach her how to balance. He gave her a few instructions and she nodded her head, her face red from embarrassment.

"She told Neji that she wanted to come to the skate park because we're here," Shino said to him while Naruto watched her almost fall. "We know she's really here to see you though."

She faltered and slipped off of the board, luckily being caught by Kiba. Naruto hurried over to her.

"Are you okay?" he said. Her embarrassment had rendered her speechless so she nodded her head repetitively in response. Naruto grabbed her and pulled her to his body, kissing her softly against the lips. "You are friggin adorable, you know that right?" She shook her head as her face turned an even deeper shade of red; going from tomato red to cherry red. "And I am _so_ happy that you don't like Sasuke in a romantic way." He leaned in and kissed her again. "Maybe we should start doing something more productive before I piss your cousin off?"

"O-okay," Hinata said. Naruto waved Gaara over and began his lessons on skate boarding, dismissing Kiba from the job. After a few more lessons, Gaara was comfortable enough to go off on his own and try out the ramps. Naruto gladly took the opportunity to teach Hinata one on one but Neji watched them like a hawk.

After a brief hour and a half Neji informed them that Hinata had reached curfew. Even though Naruto had successfully kissed Hinata without being caught, he wasn't about to do it with Neji staring at them, so as Hinata left his side he decided to goose her instead. Her body straightened from the unexpected touch and she held back a squeal of surprise that had tried to escape while Neji frowned, not knowing what had just happened.

After a few more hours the others started to disperse until Naruto and Gaara were alone again, collapsed in the grass near the cement park, catching their breath.

"So I thought you weren't sure if you wanted Hinata," Gaara said.

"Yeah, well, she's definitely a catch and I don't know, maybe she is worth it…" Naruto said.

"Are you going to convince her father or date her secretly?" Gaara said.

"I'm going to try to convince her father and date her secretly in the meantime," Naruto said. "Why are you so… uh… happy?" he decided to change subjects.

"Temari said she'd take me back to the institute so that I can visit Matsuri and Sari," Gaara said. "I'll be able to talk to them about our relationships in person."

"That's great," Naruto said.

Gaara stood up from the ground and grabbed his board. "I want to… thank you… for teaching me how to board and… stuff. It's helped me vent a lot," he said awkwardly.

Naruto sat up and smiled sheepishly. "It's no big deal, I was glad to." They nodded to each other and then Gaara started to head home, riding his new skate board and leaving Naruto to collapse back onto the grass.

A low vibrating caught his attention and he dug into his pocket, retrieving his phone. He flipped it open, revealing a text message from Itachi. Sasuke still hadn't come home.

**xxxxx**

**AN: Hey look I'm back, go figure, you just read me like a few pages ago, or scrolls or minutes or whatever. There's a little rhyming going on at the end of the chapter here, you notice that? Phone and home… not exactly a rhyme but when I read through it that's what I thought anyway. Also, a video of psycho Sasuke laughing before he fights Kakashi and Sakura but with the laugh from Feel Good Inc by the Gorillaz can be found at (youtube) (watch?v=KHVaAJbnOZE) or Just search "Sasuke Feels Good" it's like 20 secs long.  
**


	25. On Edge

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: Oh man guys, after this… two more chapters left!**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 25: On Edge**

**xxxxx**

Saturday

"I'm just getting fed up with my older brother…" Sasuke mumbled as he sat at the quaint kitchen table, sipping a steaming cup of tea.

"You do know that Itachi and I have come to an understanding right?" Kasai asked as she flipped a pancake with her skillet. Sasuke had skipped school again yesterday and came to her house when Sai left for school. Since he was still angry with Itachi, Kasai thought it would be best to let him spend the night.

"I can't wait until school is over," he said dully while staring at a random picture hanging on the kitchen wall.

"With the rate you're going you might skip enough days that they kick you out," Kasai said, reprimanding Sasuke for his recent behavior.

Sasuke chuckled. "That'd be nice... then I'd be able to come here sooner."

"What are you talking about?"

"I already told you, once I'm done with school I'm going to come live with you and help you take care of Hiko."

Kasai set the skillet down forcefully. "My son is in the house. Don't say nonsense like that when there's a chance he can hear you. I don't want you to get his hopes up with something that's never going to happen."

"What do you mean 'something that's never going to happen?'" Sasuke said angrily, sitting up and glaring at Kasai.

"You aren't moving in here. I appreciate the thought but I'm not tying you down with my problems," Kasai said, crossing her arms.

"You're my family, they're my problems too!" Sasuke growled hoarsely.

"So is Itachi and I don't see him trying to save me like I'm some helpless damsel," Kasai said, her voice raising.

"Yeah, because he doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself!"

"Watch your tone young man. I won't stand for that language in my house and I won't tolerate being spoken to like that by a self-righteous teenager who doesn't recognize sincerity when someone presents it to him. You and Itachi might be fighting but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you."

"Ugh! What did he say to get you to turn on me? All of you are all the same saying the same damn things. Why can't I leave the town, why can't I come help you? What's wrong with wanting to help?" Sasuke stood up roughly and stormed to the front door of the house.

"Leaving nii-san?" Hiko asked from the foot of the stairs where Sasuke stood, putting his shoes on.

"Yes Hiko. I'll come see you again some other day though," Sasuke said, patting Hiko affectionately on the head and then leaving the house.

Kasai sighed as she listened to Sasuke leave. Of course there was nothing wrong with leaving the city or wanting to help family, but she didn't want Sasuke tied down when he had so many other options ahead of him.

As Sasuke sped back to town he decided to go back to Sai's. When he had left Friday morning, Sai had put out the option that his home was always open to Sasuke and while Sasuke could go to Naruto's he knew Naruto was on Itachi's side. Part of him wanted to go to Sakura's, but she had the same thoughts as the others, only for different reasons.

**xxxxx**

Naruto pulled up to the long drive of the main Hyuga house; his truck sputtering painfully as it slowed to a stop and died.

"Thanks for waiting until I arrived buddy," Naruto said, petting the dashboard graciously. He was happy to finally have his truck back.

He walked up the steps to the front doors and knocked on the wood, still taken aback by the house's beauty.

"Who are you?" A girl asked, opening the door.

"Holy crap it's a miniature Hinata," Naruto said. He wasn't exactly right, this girl's hair was brown in color and she didn't have bangs, her breasts were also underdeveloped compared to Hinata's, then again she only looked about eleven. _'But Hinata had a pretty decent sized rack when she was twelve and that's only a year older…'_ Naruto's mind wondered off topic as he started thinking about Hinata in more… _inappropriate_ ways.

The girls face lit up. "Wait a second! A blonde boy with a stupid expression; Neji-nii has told me about you! You're Naruto. Oh man, dad is going to be pissed. I'll go get him." She ran off yelling "Dad, you won't guess who's here to see Hinata."

"Wait," Naruto tried to say; he was hoping for a more formidable introduction.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, coming into the entrance from a hallway. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk to your old man," Naruto said. "Who was that annoying girl?"

"That's my younger sister Hanabi. Dad favors her because she's really good at everything she does. Her greatest talent is sucking up."

Naruto was taken aback by Hinata's response. Normally she was shy and tried to get along with everyone, so seeing her talk so bluntly about her sister was a change. He liked seeing this side of her, like he was seeing the real her, even if she was being a little mean.

"What are you doing here?" Hinata's father said as he, too, came into the entrance.

"I want to discuss my relationship with Hinata with you, man to man," Naruto said without hesitation.

Hiashi laughed. "You are no man. Get off of my property and out of my presence…" he turned and began walking away.

"No, not until you hear me out," Naruto said forcefully.

"… before I call the cops," Hiashi said, looking over his shoulder sternly with a stare that told Naruto there was nothing he could do at the moment to change his mind.

Naruto sighed. "Sorry Hinata. I'll try again though, don't worry. I just need to think up a different approach."

"Th-that's fine Naruto-kun," Hinata said. She was happy he at least tried. Naruto leaned in to kiss her but Hanabi stopped them.

"Do it and I'll call for dad right now," Hanabi said.

"Do you act this way because you don't have any friends? Or, I bet you don't have any friends because you act this way," Naruto snapped.

Hanabi snorted and threw her hands behind her head and walked off proudly.

"She's actually really popular. She's only acting this way because she's prideful of our bloodline and agrees with father and nii-san that you aren't…" Hinata stopped herself and shied away from Naruto.

"That I'm not good enough?" Naruto asked. She nodded her head. "Hinata, you're pretty incredible, you know that right?"

She looked up at him startled by the compliment.

"You're well rounded and you're getting more confident every day. If someone like you can see good qualities in a dobe like me, then I'm sure I've got the potential to be great too."

Hinata laughed. "You say flattering things but we both know you're already aware of your potential. If not then you wouldn't be cocky enough to argue with my father about me."

Naruto grinned. He was happy that he stuck with Hinata and didn't dump her for the extra effort her father was making him put into their relationship; these challenges were only pulling them closer together instead of forcing them further apart. He placed his hands on her cheeks and gently pulled her closer for a kiss, noticing Hanabi watching from down the hall before he closed his eyes. After a minute he parted from her and left the house, ready to formulate a new plan and try again.

"Hinata, come here," Hiashi called to his daughter from deep within the Hyuga mansion. Hinata watched Naruto's back as he walked to his truck, then she continued to watch him until he had driven away and was out a sight; it took him awhile to start his truck up and she wondered if he was having engine troubles. Once he was gone, she turned and headed to her father, clambering through different rooms and down oddly placed hallways as she walked through the labyrinth of a house.

"Yes father," she said a little bluntly compared to her normal demeanor, but she hated when Naruto was looked down on.

"If I catch him here again, if I find out you're still seeing him, I will ship you off to a boarding school before you have time to text him 'goodbye'. Do I make myself clear?"

She stared confrontationally at her father. Should she agree with him or should she break the rules? Hinata wasn't an idiot, she knew that Naruto wouldn't want to put this much effort into their relationship, and if he did it was purely because he's a good guy and not because he liked her that much. He didn't love her… yet. But she had never disobeyed her father before, and the only way she could get around any of this would be if she snuck out to see him.

"Do I make myself clear, Hinata?" Hiashi asked, his voice raised; he couldn't believe his daughter was being so defiant.

"Crystal," Hinata said sharply. She turned on her heel and stormed away, pulling her cell phone out and calling the only person who she thought could relate to her at the moment.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of her phone asked, shocked to be receiving a call.

"I _need_ to get out of my house, it's urgent. I can't stand being here right now so could you please come get me?" Hinata asked, her stutter escaping her in the midst of her anger.

"Y-yeah, alright," the voice said. "I'll be right there."

Hinata wasn't sure but she thought she heard sniffling in the background before the call disconnected.

**xxxxx**

"Well damn," Naruto said to himself as he drove through town. "How am I going to prove myself to him? Don't tell me I'll have to start studying or something!" Naruto slammed his truck break to the floor in hopes of slowing down enough to stop for a red light. The truck slowed but not enough to stop and Naruto had to give the beast some gas in order to dodge a car from oncoming traffic. "I don't think my brain would handle studying…" he thought to himself absentmindedly, paying no attention to his failing truck; he was used to it by now. "Good thing there aren't any cops around."

He pulled into the parking lot of the skate park and grabbed his board, ready to get his mind off of the recent event.

"Gaara? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he walked to the half pipe and found Gaara at the top on the deck.

"The institute has been put on lock down so the trip has been postponed until next week," Gaara said as he made his decent.

"Oh no, what happened?" Naruto said.

"One of the residence, a guy named Juugo, went berserk and started terrorizing the staff and the other residents," Gaara said, his face even and uncaring. "Apparently he almost strangled one of the nurses to death."

"That's terrible…" Naruto said jaw-dropped. "They keep guys like that there?"

"Well he's not _that_ bad of a guy. He's actually really friendly and loves animals. Juugo just has a split personality disorder," Gaara said.

"I see," Naruto said. "You're taking this pretty well."

"You win some, you lose some. I still get to go next weekend."

Naruto smirked proudly. Before, something like this would have drove Gaara over the edge, but he was doing amazing. The skate boarding must really be helping. "Come here a sec Gaara."

Gaara stopped rolling up and down the sides of the half pipe and neared Naruto. Naruto was digging around in a pocket on the inside of his jacket.

"Here," he said, handing over Gaara's butterfly knife. "I told you that if you could act normal you could have it back, and this is the most normal I think you can get, so it's yours."

"Thanks," Gaara said, taking the knife. He flicked the blade out and examined the design engraved into it.

After a few more sentimental seconds they went back to skating until the rising sun and their rumbling stomachs reminded them that it was time for lunch.

**xxxxx**

"So what happened exactly?" Sakura asked Hinata one she had climbed into the car. They left the mansion and began cruising through the town.

"I'm just frustrated with my father," Hinata said, snapping a little. "S-sorry…"

Sakura was taken aback, not used to seeing Hinata so forward. Hinata began explaining about the trouble she was having with Naruto because of her father. Sakura noted that at least Naruto wanted to be with her, leading into a long talk about Sakura's relationship with Sasuke. Several minutes into the drive they stopped by an ice cream parlor and bought milk shakes. They conversed about the boys while sitting inside Sakura's parked car. While they chitchatted Sakura became distracted by a familiar revving. The girls stopped chatting in time to watch Sasuke speed past them on his motorcycle.

"What are you waiting for Sakura? Start your car! Follow him," Hinata said, snapping Sakura out of her daze.

Sakura followed instruction and pulled away from the parking lot as fast as possible, catching up to Sasuke but keeping enough distance that he didn't notice they were following him.

"He's going to be angry," Sakura said. "I thought I was supposed to keep my distance from him… You know, not be pushy."

"You need to prove to him that you're worth it. If you want him that badly then show him you mean business; that you aren't playing around and that this isn't some school girl crush. If he recognizes the heart you're putting into everything and still doesn't accept you then you know you gave it your all. If he doesn't recognize the effort then he's too stupid for you anyway," Hinata said.

Sakura laughed. She admired Hinata for her the love she had for Naruto, and if Hinata thought it was a good idea to throw everything she had at Sasuke in one final attempt then she was going to do it. They parked half a block away from the house Sasuke had pulled up to and made their way to him.

**xxxxx**

Sasuke descended from his motorcycle and walked to the front door of Sai's house, rapping his knuckles on the wood.

"Oh Sasuke, back so soon?" Sai said, an odd look on his face as he opened the door for Sasuke to enter. Sasuke wasn't sure but for some reason it seemed like Sai was regretting something. As the door closed Sasuke noticed the presence of another person within the room.

"Sasuke Uchiha," the other person said, standing from a moth eaten arm chair and turning to look at Sasuke. "It's been awhile."

Sasuke frowned. "I apologize but… who are you?"

The man chuckled. "I suppose it _has_ been awhile and you were rather young the last time you saw me. My name is Danzō." Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. "I see you remember me now."

"I will admit that I'm a bit surprised that I didn't recognize a face as torn apart as yours, but I _do_ recognize you now," Sasuke said. He was glaring and gritting his teeth at the man.

A sudden _knocking_ on the door caught their attention. Sai leaned in to the peep hole and then turned back to Sasuke and Danzō. "Things may be a little problematic. Two girls from Sasuke's grade are outside the door."

"What? Who?" Sasuke said surprised.

Danzō sighed heavily. "Damn." He sat back down again. "Let them in and do what you have to do to get them into the basement."

Sai nodded and opened the door.

"Sai! This is your house?" Sakura gasped.

"Go away Sakura! I'm not in the mood to see you," Sasuke yelled, his voice echoing within the house. He didn't like the way Danzō said 'do what you have to do' and hoped that yelling at Sakura would send her away from any immediate danger. It was too late though, the girls had entered into the house.

"I just wanted to talk to you—" Sakura started to say before Sai had his hand wrapped around her arms and body, a pocket knife digging into her throat.

"If the three of you would be so kind as to go downstairs," he said. Sasuke glared past the confused Sakura, right at Sai's composed face. Hinata walked to Sasuke and the two of them headed to the open door which normally concealed a staircase leading downstairs. Sai and Sakura followed close behind them and Danzō brought up the rear.

To show he meant business, Sai had the blade ripping deep enough into Sakura's skin to cause her to bleed slightly, but wasn't doing any immediate damage. With a hostage taken, Sasuke and Hinata had no choice but to comply when Danzō ushered them to sit down and then began restraining them with ropes. After they were tied up, Sai bounded Sakura's arms behind her back and to the chair he had sat her on.

"You're dismissed now Sai. I can't have you witnessing anything else," Danzō said.

"Yes sir," Sai said, "you didn't tie that rope properly though." He walked to Sasuke and inspected the rope before leaving the basement.

"What are you going to do to us?" Sasuke said as he moved his wrists back and forth, trying to see what Sai left him to work with.

"Shh, Sasuke, we'll get to that in time. First I have to make a phone call."

**xxxxx**

While Naruto and Gaara were heading back to the skate park, having finished eating out at the town's sole ramen shop, called Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's phone started to vibrate.

"Uh… hello?" Naruto said, not recognizing the number.

"I don't necessarily know how to explain what's going on but, this is Sai, and I just thought I'd like to let you know that your girlfriend, Sakura, and Sasuke have all been kidnapped. Would you like my address, because, they're currently being held in my basement."

Naruto stopped in his tracks. "Y-yeah… sure." He turned to Gaara. "I may need your help."

**xxxxx**

"Hello?" Itachi said as he answered his cell phone. Kasai was calling him.

"I just received a disturbing call from Danzō. He says that he has Sasuke and that—"

"I understand," Itachi said, cutting Kasai off. His phone beeped and he looked down at it, finding a text from Naruto telling him the same thing but also mentioning Sai. "I'll take care of this." He hung up on Kasai and speed-dialed Sasori, hoping he'd know how where Sai lived.

**xxxxx**

**AN: I don't hate Hanabi, but she's always hanging around her father and she's a prodigy like Neji so I kinda felt her personality would be like this. Not like there's a lot of examples out there to go off of so… yea…**


	26. When the Past and Present Collide

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: Because this chapter is so short I'm releasing it and chapter 27 at the same time, so welcome to the end of WoB!**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 26: When the Past and Present Collide**

**xxxxx**

"What do you want with me?" Sasuke asked after Danzō had finished his phone call, which had been about Sasuke.

"Let me tell you a little story," Danzō said, taking a seat atop a work bench and facing the three captives.

Many years ago, when Danzō was young and his face was still intact, he had been part of a large, ongoing World War. He trudged throughout the battle field and overcame many opponents. In one attack his leg was badly injured. Several days later, during another bout he lost the ability to move one of his arms when an enemy damaged a tendon with a knife; then a month or so after that, Danzō was slashed across the face, losing the ability to see out of one of his eyes. He collapsed onto the ground in pain and was taken captive.

In captivity, he met Madara Uchiha, a sickly, skinny young man a little older than himself. After Danzō had initially recovered from the attack, a thick gauze sheet wrapped around his head, he would watch Madara rock back and forth in the next cell over. Madara would wrap his arms around his body and shake, apologizing over and over. Other times he would lay his face into his legs and cry uncontrollably, his body shaking harshly.

"Why do you keep crying?" Danzō finally asked, losing his self control. He didn't know how much longer he could listen to Madara.

"I've done a terrible thing… A terrible thing I've done… I didn't mean to. Mean to, I did not. I'm good, really I am. I'm a good boy… yeah… Tobi's a good boy."

Danzō watched Madara ramble, wondering why he was calling himself Tobi. He noticed a number written on the back of Madara's prison uniform. T061. All of the captives were given a number and Danzō couldn't help thinking that 'Tobi' came from Madara's number.

"They aren't going to forgive me. They aren't going to forgive me. They aren't going to forgive me."

"Who won't forgive you?" Danzō asked.

"My family. I'm the head of the Uchiha Clan, but they won't forgive me, not for this," Madara said.

"The Uchiha?" Danzō said. Then he remembered that there had been a man on his own squad whose name was Kagami Uchiha. Kagami had boasted about the Uchiha and their status among men before they had been brought onto the battle field. His bragging stopped once they faced their opponents and their existence began to cling on the edge of life and death; he matured quickly. But Danzō remembered Kagami's mention of the Uchiha fortune.

"Yes, yes, we have plenty of wealth! Save me and you can take a share of it," Madara proclaimed. "I can't be here anymore! Not in this place!" The man was standing and gripping onto the bars that separated them desperately.

Danzō began to form an elaborate plan. Weeks went by but he used every moment to memorize the layout of the building when he was escorted from his cell or from what other prisoners would tell him. He memorized the times they were fed and the times the guards switched with each other. After a long wait, he and Madara made their escape.

They were nearly captured a handful of times because of Madara's persistent episodes, but after a few hours they had made it to one of the allied campsites. From there it was an easy trip home. Madara obliged to take Danzō to the clan for his reward, but upon requesting his fair share of the fortune, he was denied and Madara was disowned.

"So really, I'm just trying to get what is rightfully mine," Danzō said, finishing his story.

"You're a liar," Sasuke said. "You didn't do any of that. For one, Madara stayed a captive until the war was over. He was mentally tortured the entire time he was imprisoned. If anything, you learned about him and thought you could use his captive state to your advantage. You—" Sasuke paused as a realization hit him. "You _were _teamed up with Kagami Uchiha, I believe that part, and you _did_ learn about our fortune from him. You… You told my family about what Madara did to his younger brother. You were hoping that you could blackmail them with this information by threatening to shed a new light on the Uchiha and show them as blood thirsty psychos if they didn't give you the fortune! But… they chose to disown Madara instead so whatever you had to say was wasted. You're the reason his mental state began to decline like it had…"

Danzō smirked. "You're a little too smart for your own good. I tried desperately to get my hands on the money. I theorized that if I abducted the child of the head of the family my wish would be granted but your father was older than I could handle by the time I had come up with this plan. Then Itachi was born and he was very well guarded until he grew older. Then you came around and you met that little blonde boy and became rebellious.

"I thought I could take you on your outings with the blonde but your brother and father were always nearer than I hoped. But, after a little threat to your older brother, I was able to rid myself of your clan and force all of that money to Madara; the flaw in that plan is that he watched you like a hawk too. I was hoping the idiot wouldn't realize I was trying to obtain you."

"You don't give him enough credit," Sasuke spat.

"Maybe… Maybe not… by the time you did start leaving the house regularly you were a lot older so I had to recalculate how I would attempt this. That's why I asked for Sai, a boy roughly your age, to be sent to me." Danzō explained. "And here you are. You even brought me two extra hostages." Sakura and Hinata squirmed uncomfortably, hoping that Sasuke had formulated a plan.

There was a thud above their heads and Danzō hurried to Sasuke.

"I hope that's Sai, but he's normally not that loud," Danzō said, muttering to himself.

The basement door slammed open and Naruto, Gaara, Sai, Temari, and Neji bounded down the stairs.

"Well Sai, I expected more from you," Danzō said, holding a knife to Sasuke's throat.

"Don't worry about me," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded and raced for Hinata, Neji closely behind him, and Temari rushed to Sakura. Sasuke slammed his head backwards, into Danzō's chest, pushing the old man away from him while Sasuke yanked his hands away from one another, breaking free of the rope. Naruto and Neji had Hinata free in no time, but Temari was struggling to untie Sakura. Danzō leapt to Temari, pulling her free from Sakura and digging the blade into her neck instead.

In two seconds Gaara went from standing next to the foot of the stairs to roughly prying his sister from Danzō's side and driving his butterfly knife into Danzō's chest.

Danzō looked down to the red head and gasped for air before falling to the ground. Seconds later they heard sirens as the city's police force parked outside. With Danzō bleeding out on the ground the group didn't know if they should be scared of the knife wielding Gaara, he had yanked the blade back out of Danzō's chest, or if they should be grateful.

As the police stormed into the house, Sasuke walked over to Sakura and untied her saying, "the next time I tell you to leave, will you promise you'll listen?" To which she nodded 'yes.'


	27. The End

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.**

**AN: **FINAL CHAPTER! Thank-you all so much for going through this journey with me. I've averaged out the story and without the dumb disclaimer or author's notes this baby is 78,628 words long and 198 pages long when stylized like a real book! (Well…. It was until I got tired of formatting and gave up -_-) This was an incredible adventure and I tripped and stumbled along the way but with your favorites, watches, and reviews I was inspired to get back up and finish the damn thing. I'm a firm believer that true art is filled with the emotions of the creator, and I, as the author of this fanfic, can truthfully say that a lot more of my personal life has entered into this story than I had originally planned. So even if you, as the readers, don't initially recognize the personal underlining and see it as just a story, I want to let you all know that I was happy to open myself up enough to enter into these characters that aren't mine and meld my own story into something much more than simple reality. I also want to thank Masashi Kishimoto for creating such fun characters to play with. I know this seems like an acceptance speech but I am a HUGE procrastinator and am ecstatic that I was able to finish this. Thank-you all again and enjoy the last chapter of _Worthy of Blackmail._

**Make sure you've read chapter 26 because I released the chapters at the same time!**

_xxxxx_

**Chapter 27: The End**

**xxxxx**

After Gaara's sudden attack on Danzō, the police made their way on the scene, storming down the stairs and securing the house. The group, minus Gaara, backed towards the far side of the basement, holding their hands up to show that they were unarmed.

"Hand over the knife," one of the policemen said; they were wearing armor and helmets incase Danzō had tried to attack them.

"This is my uncle's knife," Gaara said, holding the blade to his lips and licking blood off of it.

The policeman raised his gun to point it at Gaara's head. "Drop the knife."

"Izumo," one of the other policemen said. "He's just a child; you can't threaten him like that."

"Be quiet Kotetsu! As long as he refuses to drop the knife then he is a threat to all of us!" Izumo said angrily.

"Please sir! My brother is a little mentally disturbed. He's not stable enough for this kind of treatment," Temari said. "Give him the knife Gaara."

"This is Uncle's knife," Gaara said.

"For once will you listen to your older sister?" Temari asked.

Gaara complied, slowly bending over and placing the knife onto the ground before walking over towards his friends.

"Is everyone alright? What happened here today?" Izumo said as a third policeman walked over to Danzō and began inspecting him.

"I can explain everything with tact," Sasuke said.

"I see you've taken after your father a little bit, eh Sasuke?" Kotetsu said.

"I came here hoping to escape my brother, Sakura and Hinata following behind me, but Danzō forced Sai to help him obtain us. Before leaving, Sai, who also had to tie us up, left enough room around my hands for me to make an escape when the desired time came up. I can only deduce that afterwards he got a hold of you and Naruto," Sasuke said, summing up the capture for their records.

"Actually, you're brother, Itachi, called us," Izumo explained.

"I did call Naruto though," Sai said.

"Itachi called you?" Sasuke asked, wondering how his brother even knew he had been captured. "Where is he?"

"Outside. Probably fighting to get down here and see you," Kotetsu said. "You will all have to come to the station for further questioning, but we'll need to take _him_ away." He directed the comment to Gaara.

"Why?" Temari said.

"He was defending his sister," Naruto yelled; but they knew the reason.

"This man is dead," the third policeman said, standing from Danzō's side.

Izumo cuffed Gaara and led him up the stairs while the others followed closely behind; Kotetsu telling a few members from the arriving hospital staff about Danzō's untimely death. The group watched as Gaara was placed into the back of Izumo's police car before being driven away. Before Itachi could talk with Sasuke, the policeman who pronounced Danzō's death came over to their group.

"My name's Genma," the man said, introducing himself. "I know that there are a lot of things you would probably like to catch up on, but the faster you cooperate, the sooner we can finish. If I could just ask you all to come to the station with me so we can finish our questioning; it would make all of our lives a little simpler."

Sai was forced to ride to the station with the cops, also under temporary arrest for collaboration accusations; the others crammed together in Itachi's vehicle, sitting silently in shock as they drove to the police headquarters. Hinata and Sakura were still shaken by the attack and were later picked up by their parents.

Before Hinata was taken away, Hiashi dragged Naruto away from the group.

"Neji told me what happened. About how you helped saved my daughter. Maybe I underestimated you," Hiashi said. Naruto wasn't sure what to say and before he could think of something, the Hyuga's left.

The man who ran the orphanage Sai came from and Gaara's father were also called to go over the penalties their children would be facing.

In the end, Sasuke, Naruto, and Itachi waited for a verdict to be made; staying at the station for almost the entire night. To make the situation easier they all agreed to discuss Sasuke's recent behavior once they were back at the manor. A few hours into their wait, and Shikamaru showed up, intending on comforting Temari.

Though the nation they lived in was large, cases like Sai's and Gaara's were few and far apart so finding a judge to make a decision was easy. Because Gaara was a minor, he would be sent back to the _institution_ until he was of legal age; something he was happy about. And Sai, having aided in Sasuke's, Sakura's, and Hinata's escape, would be sent back to an orphanage. Sai wasn't fond of the idea, but in one year he'd be finished with high school so he decided he could put up with it.

By the time these decisions had been made it was close to midnight so it was agreed that the talk should wait until Sunday.

**xxxxx**

Sunday

Ino was informed by Sakura, early Sunday morning, about the events at Danzō's. She wanted to call Sasuke, but knew that it would be best to leave him alone. Her hand already holding he phone, she decided to dial Chōji's number instead.

**xxxxx**

Shortly before lunch, Kasai and Hiko came to the mansion after receiving a call from Itachi.

"I'm so happy you're okay," Kasai said, hugging Sasuke tightly while Hiko watched confused.

"Naruto," Sasuke said from within Kasai's grasp. "This is my… uh… cousin, Kasai Uchiha and her son Hiko."

"Let's take this to the family room," Itachi said before Naruto could say anything.

They moved into the other room and took a seat so that Sasuke could begin explaining everything.

"When I first started searching for additional members of the family all I wanted were relatives that I could connect with and share my pain with. Madara was great at first, but he never expressed interest in finding other family members. He had grown used to living his solitary life and only wanted to make room for me to enter into it.

"Then I found Kasai and I kept her tight. It eased some of the pain to know that part of the family had survived the massacre. As I grew older I felt like I had to fight just to keep her in my life, and she eventually cut me off anyway. Everything was upside down; I couldn't figure out what to do and I felt horribly disconnected. Because I believed Itachi was the one who killed my family, I kept him from the truth, and because I didn't want to associate any pain and loss of my newly discovered family members to Naruto, I kept him from the truth too.

"I know it was selfish of me, but all this time, I was hoping to keep Kasai and Hiko my own, personal little secret," Sasuke said, finding it easier to speak his thoughts to no one in particular.

The others weren't sure how to respond. Naruto could understand why Sasuke would want to separate him from the family, in fact, he appreciated the idea. It meant that Sasuke cared enough about their friendship that he didn't want to re-associate any pain with him if another travesty occurred. Itachi also understood where Sasuke was coming from. He had led his brother to believe that he had killed his family, so even if Sasuke had begun opening up to him it was understandable that he'd want to keep a safe distance between Itachi and Kasai and Hiko.

With the truth finally out in the open, they decided to break for lunch. Sasuke began cooking something in the kitchen while being pestered by Naruto and Hiko. Kasai and Itachi decided to discuss what they'd do with their large inheritance, ultimately decided on splitting it evenly amongst the remaining Uchiha's so that Kasai had a larger portion of the funds to take care of Hiko with.

**xxxxx**

With evening looming overhead, Kasai and Hiko finally left the manor, hoping to make it home before complete darkness overtook the roads. Sasuke also left, heading towards Sakura's.

She opened her front door, shocked to see him standing before her.

"Want to go for a ride?" He asked and in a few short minutes they were parked outside the skate park.

"So, how are you doing?" Sakura said.

"Good. I finally sat down and had a long talk with my family and we've gone through everything so I'm not as… angry anymore," Sasuke said. He repositioned himself on his bike so that he could look at Sakura easier. "We split the money four ways so now Kasai's loaded since she has rights over Hiko's share. That means I don't have to help take care of him anymore."

"I see," Sakura said, perking up a little.

"But I still want to leave and explore the world a little. Get out and experience life outside of this town, you know?"

"I guess I can understand that…"

Sasuke gently grabbed Sakura's hand. "I know that your dream is to go to the university and become a doctor under more of Tsunade's tutelage. Would you be willing to… wait for me?"

She looked up at him wide-eyed. "Of course!" She clasped her hand over her mouth, embarrassed from her loud answer. "Why did you change your mind?"

"When you first entered the house and I knew something terrible was probably going to happen, my first instinct was to get you away so I knew you'd be safe. Do I really need to explain my feelings to you?" He leaned in and kissed her passionately.

"I think you just did," Sakura said after they pulled away from each other.

**xxxxx**

Monday

During lunch the next day, Sasuke and Naruto were relaxing under the shade of a large tree in the courtyard; Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Chōji were still in the cafeteria, complaining about the heat.

"It's so damn weird without the girls here," Naruto whined; Hinata's father had kept her home for the day, still fretting over the incident with Danzō.

"Yeah, I kind of want to ditch class and go see her," Sasuke said tiredly.

"Itachi would kill you," Naruto said. They laughed as another person joined them under the tree.

"What is wrong with you two?" The person yelled. "You're held hostage and nearly die and your friend kills someone and neither of you feels the need to inform me?"

"Awe man, sorry Haku, it was just a lot to happen at once," Naruto said as Haku glared at them. "We'll let you know next time okay?"

Sasuke laughed and then asked, "How did you even find out?"

"Itachi told Kisame who told Zabuza who told me," Haku said sharply. "Do you two think I appreciate finding things out this way?"

The boys began giving half-assed apologies to Haku until the older boy gave up and decided to lay with them under the tree. Soon the bell rang, and even though they knew they shouldn't be skipping class, especially Sasuke, they decided it would be okay if they were just a little late.

**xxxxx**

**AN: My final "author notes" and all I'd like to say is did you guys notice that this story only covers a span of 18 days? –not including flashbacks…**


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